


If Things Were Different

by LangdonSnareMD



Category: Black Friday - Team StarKid, StarKid Productions RPF, The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals - Team StarKid
Genre: Aliens, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, F/M, Gen, Hatchetfield Universe, Horror, Hurt/Comfort, Monsters, Plot changes, Post-Apotheosis (The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals), References to Depression, References to Suicide, Supernatural Elements, Suspense, The Black and White (Black Friday), The Hive - Freeform, Timeline What Timeline, Wiggly (but in an unnamed way), references to mental illness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-27
Updated: 2020-07-14
Packaged: 2021-03-03 02:28:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 27
Words: 66,218
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24397318
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LangdonSnareMD/pseuds/LangdonSnareMD
Summary: In Michigan there’s a mysterious town, that people refuse to acknowledge.A widower has died, leaving his son to his estranged sister-in-law that must travel back to Hatchetfield to enter quarantine for an undisclosed amount of time that will not be explained.Now she must navigate the town, it’s people, and the secrets that want to break it’s way free.(Alternate universe where Emma never came back to Hatchetfield after Jane’s death and TGWDLM and Black Friday happened in the same timeline. Notes about some of the plot things at the end.)
Relationships: Bill & Paul Matthews & Ted, Melissa/Colonel Schaeffer, Paul Matthews & Emma Perkins, Paul Matthews/Emma Perkins, Tim Houston & Emma Perkins
Comments: 107
Kudos: 84





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome. This is another timeline that had both TGWDLM and Black Friday events both happening in Hatchetfield roughly a year apart from each other. The other main difference in this timeline is that Emma never returned to Hatchetfield when Jane died, instead other events force her back and that’s where this story begins.

There’s no such thing as a smooth transition, it’s just something made by the movie editors to manipulate the audience. Transitions were sudden, abrupt; it did not care for those it affected. It’s a riptide that can drag those by their feet but is unassuming at the surface.

Emma faced her share of transitions in her lifetime, but going back to her home town of Hatchetfield for the first time in over 15 years ha to be the hardest one yet.

It was jarring enough to hear about her sister’s sudden death 2 years prior. A car crash during the Michigan winter. It hurt to hear that Jane passed, especially since Emma missed her wedding almost a decade earlier, and the birth of her nephew soon after that. At that point, it made sense to skip the funeral too.

Oddly enough, it was the call that Jane’s husband, Tom, died that forced her to take the ticket to Michigan left at the Check-in desk that was bought for her. They had been calling non-stop since 7am EST leaving longer and longer messages to call her back until she finally cracked by early afternoon.

_“Goldstein Consultancy, can I help you?” A nasally voice called, it sounded scratchy on Emma’s crappy international cell phone._

_“Hi, this is Emma Perkins, I’ve gotten several calls—“_

_“Yes. Hello Ms. Perkins, we recently had our client Tom Houston have legal requirements started, you are on the list as someone to contact. Are you able to take this call at the moment?”_

_Emma huffed, laying back on her motel bed. “Yeah, sure.”_

_“You are listed as the next guardian for Timothy Houston as his godmother.”_

_“Uh sure, did they get into trouble?”_

_“I mean, they didn’t. Well Tom didn’t, he’s dead, you’re on the will as his guardian.”_

_Emma’s eyebrows rose high, jaw slack as she tried to process a response. “What the fuck?” _What a response_ She wiped sweat away from her eyes. “Maybe start with that kind of shit dude.”_

_“Sorry ma’am, I’m only a legal aid.” He mumbled._

_“Well why the fuck is a legal aid transferring this information to me? Where’s this Goldstein?”_

_“Uh, he’s dead too.”_

_“Oh, well. Shit. Uh, sorry... So, uh, you just want to ask me if I want to take custody, right?”_

_“And if you would like to collect the house and all other possessions. You’re the sole benefactor that’s able to take possessions. The money is halted between you and the other half is going into a fund for Tim Houston that can’t be touched until he’s 18 years old.”_

_“Why do I get everything?”_

_“It’s in the will.”_

_She wanted to groan, but kept it in. “Okay, well, how much time do I have to come take custody?”_

_“Hatchetfield— uh, the firm has agreed to send a ticket for a flight tonight at the Guatemala airport.”_

_“Tonight?” She yelled a bit too loud, the guy in the room next door banged on the joined wall. “Why so fast?”_

_“That’s for reasons I am not allowed to speak about over a public line.”_

_“What if I can’t do that?”_

_“Then you give up custody.”_

_“What the fuck? That can’t be fucking legal.”_

_“It’s a federal ruling that’s happened, uh, recently.”_

_“What fucking law could that be useful for?”_

_“That’s for reasons I’m not allowed to talk about over a public line.”_

_Emma rolled her eyes.” Yeah, yeah whatever. Maybe I’ll just bring him back out here so I never have to hear from you again.”_

_“You won’t be able to do that actually. If you come back you are obligated to stay in Hatchetfield.”_

_“Why?”_

_“That’s for reasons I’m not allowed to—“_

_“Talk about over a public line.” She said with the aid. A headache was forming behind her eyes. She pinched the bridge of her nose, trying to keep her cool. “For how long?”_

_The aid cleared his throat. “Uh, well, for an indefinite period of time that ends under federal discretion.”_

_“Oh my fucking god.” She breathed. “If you can’t tell me for reasons that can’t be talked about I’m gonna scream.” She got no response, papers shuffled and he cleared his throat once again. “Fucking hell.” Her palm slammed against the wall and someone banged back in response. “So I have to make all these fucking decisions right now?”_

_“Yes, yes ma’am.”_

_“Or Tim gets, what, put into foster care?”_

_“Yes.”_

_Emma wished she’d actually listened when the locals did their meditations. There was a failed attempt to center herself that was quickly aborted as she turned to shove whatever was useful into her bag. Nothing she had was sentimental and everything was replaceable. “Alright, get that fucking ticket ready, dude.” She seethed into the phone._

_“Uh, my name is Oliver.”_

_“Great Oliver. I hope you’ll love my foot in your ass as soon as I land over there.”_

_The aid could only stammer back.”I, uh, actually, am going to be helping accompany you to the island and getting you at the docks.”_

_“Well then you better pucker up early. Get that ticket ready under my name. I’m leaving right fucking now.” If it was the era of flip phones, she would have snapped it closed so hard it’d have broken. Emma prided herself in being a good guest, but she left half the shit she owned strewn around the motel room._

It took three hours to travel back to the Guatemalan capital, a ticket was ready under her name for the flight leaving two hours later.

After the four hour flight, halfway into landing in Northern Michigan, Emma sat fretting over the choices she’d just made. She didn’t even go back for Jane’s funeral, barely ever saw her her once she left for college. What right does she have to come claim her child as her own? Emma’s always been a shit daughter, but she wasn’t a shit sister until she left for Central America. Jane cared so much for her, but once she had to leave, it gave their parents more time to berate Emma for not doing just like her sister. There’s only so many times you can hear that your parents only planned for one child before it really gets to you. The nagging voice that sounded like their father faded the longer she was in Guatemala, less doubts about her choices in life, that she was failing the family. Now, she’s the only Perkins left, sans Tim.

She wondered if they would be proud of her decision to come back, to live in Hatchetfield for god knows how long, and support another being. Or would they be disgusted that it took two deaths for her to woman up and be responsible for once in her life.

The plane finally came to a halt. Outside the window, there was a small snow flurry, barely able to dust the ground, that danced around like the whiskey that sat in her stomach. Emma took her only luggage out of the overhead compartment and planted her feet on Michigan’s soil for the first time in years.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is gonna be a wild ride. Maybe one day I’ll pull a 50 Shades of Grey and make this into it’s own thing lol
> 
> The timelines are merged, in events we know about, it goes Jane’s death, TGWDLM meteor crash the next year around October, and not that Black Friday but the next is the incident at the mall, making it two years since Jane’s death (the only hard time point we have).  
> There’ll be a lot of characters mentioned but do not appear. There is death and mention of it, PTSD like symptoms, and violence that will happen later. More tags will be added as we go.
> 
> It’s gonna be long, but I do not have everything written out yet so there’ll be some long pauses between chapters every now and then.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hatchetfield wasn’t a big city but was a large island. An odd feat, especially for a town no one’s heard of. Mackinac was a tourist trap, but up in Lake Superior islands were wonders compared to the lower peninsula.

Hatchetfield wasn’t a big city, much smaller than the capitol, which wasn’t even the second biggest city in Michigan. But for an island, it was still large, almost 10 miles in circumference. Ann odd feat, especially for a town no one’s heard of. Mackinac was a tourist trap, but Lake Superior held wonders that couldn’t compare to the lower peninsula.

The docks on Clivesdale were empty, drab in the grey morning light. Barely any boats were out in the harbor at this point in the year besides a ice breakers and the stray coast guard. At the end of the planks was a dark pontoon that looked out of place, staffed with men in military garb. Standing on the dock were two people, a woman that matched the others on the boat, wearing a black beret, shoulders backs with stern eyes and a small smile. The other was a younger man in a peacoat and glasses. His posture looked as uncomfortable as his frown portrayed. They held no sign, but Emma assumed since they were the only humans around it was the right one to approach. She tilted her head towards them. “Are you Oliver?”

The man in the peacoat took a step forward. “Hello, yes ma’am. I am Oliver, we have been waiting a long time.”

“That sucks.” Emma chided as the woman motioned towards the boat. “And who are you?”

“My name is Colonel Schaffer, Ms. Perkins. I’m working here with Mr. Linn on domestic affairs.” She gave a small nod. “As his consultant is, indisposed at the moment, the government has sent a representative to help at Hatchetfield.” 

Emma shook her head, the phrasing only raised more questions. “Why not just hire a new lawyer?”

“That’s not up to me, Ms. Perkins.”

“Alright then.” Emma stepped onto the boat and took a seat and the boat departed quickly. Oliver sat next to her, with enough space in between them that Emma couldn’t shake more details out of him. The wind whipped her hair towards the lake spray, howling loudly, making sure if she wanted to have any conversation, it would be another yelling match. She looked over at the Colonel who stood next to the driver, motioning towards a harbor miles out. The military man nodded veering more to the left towards docks near the west side of the island. Emma sighed, turning towards Oliver, trying to look at non-threatening as possible. “So, there’s no public lines here, obviously. Now can you start telling me why this wills hit had to move so fast?”

“Uh, well.” The aid glanced at the Colonel who still faced away, “there’s been some changes in the, uh, town commerce chamber and we’ve made some pacts with the national government to take the reigns until everything can, stabilize again.”

“And that can affect my brother-in-law’s will?”

“There has been many...high profile members of Hatchetfield that have stepped down in recent years and with the incident a few days ago, Hatchetfield was left without any guidance.”

“What incident? Is that when Tom died? You never did say how he died.” Oliver was boring holes into Colonel Schaffer with his eyes as he ground his teeth. Emma furrowed her brows. The tight rope that this guy must have been held to was slacked and he didn’t know what he was supposed to do. He obviously was not the one that came up with the redacted information. Emma decided to push harder. “They’re the only family I have left. I deserve to know what’s going on. Or he’s just going to tell me stuff anyways.” She tried her hardest to look authentically sad about Tom’s death, though she could only feel sad for Tim in this situation.

“Well Tom died in the Lakeside incident, Tim wasn’t with him so he doesn’t even know what happened a few day—“

“Lakeside? The mall? There was a fire? He died in a fire?” 

They both glanced again at the Colonel who still looked out to the island before Oliver continued. “Technically, he did not die of a fire. He died from a stab wound in the abdomen. The medical examiner said he passed hours before the fire started.” He straightened up more, which Emma thought was impossible at that point. “The fire only killed a few people, actually.”

“Fucking stabbed? Christ, do they know who did it? Were they caught?”

“There were no survivors, Ms. Perkins. A true tragedy.” Emma’s head swiveled to find Colonel Schaffer standing next to her, hands behind her back. Only then did she realize that the wind had calmed as they had just finished docking. Oliver’s shoulders dropped from their tense position at his ears.

“Shit, what started it?”

“I can’t disclose that information at the time, Ms. Perkins.” She added.

Emma scoffed. “Fuck, Hatchetfield hasn’t been this important before.”

“Well it looks like we’re here.” Oliver stated loudly, standing ramrod straight. “I can feel my blood sugar dropping, let’s get some papers signed and we can have Tim to you right after.” Emma rolled her eyes. What avoidance. Passive pushes away from the real conversation. Whatever was going on back here was definitely big, or at least they made it seem like a big deal. It reminded her why she left all those years ago.

The consultant office was close to the shore. Oliver speed walked to the building as the Colonel stayed near Emma. They were barely off the sand before Oliver swung the door open and disappeared into the small building. Emma looked over to the Colonel, “so you’re gonna sit in on this legal shit then. You weren’t just a welcome party?”

“Affirmative, Ms. Perkins. I’m designated civilian liaison.” 

“Civilian...was there a terrorist attack or some shit? Canada coming down on us? Something I can just look up on the internet with the recent dates. You won’t have to tell me anything other than a yes or no.”

Colonel Schaffer gave a small grin. “Listen, Ms. Perkins. How about we start with one thing at a time. Let’s focus on Tim, he needs your support.”

“You do know I’ve actually never met my nephew, right? I—“ She paused, contemplating her words, “I don’t know if I can make the right decisions for myself, let alone him.”

The Colonel stopped, hand on the handle to _Goldstein Consultancy: If You’re in Hatchetfield, I’m All You Got,_ her cold exterior melted a bit as she gave a genuine smile, eyes crinkling at her temples. “I can understand how this is so difficult, with the forced mandating we’re making you go through. But understand it’s for yours, and Hatchetfield’s own good. There are things going on that I cannot talk about with civilians but can say are seeming to even be beyond the comprehension of some of us military ranks. Right now, in this town, nothing really makes sense, but Tim seems like a sweet kid. Even if this is a brand new start for both you and him, it’ll be better working together than alone.”

Emma stood still, lips apart as she took in the sentimental remarks. A small smile crossed her face quickly as the Colonel continued to open the doors to the consultancy lobby. Inside was Oliver, who was downing a cup of hot chocolate, judging by the paper bag on the reception desk. The building was small, a long reception area with a back room behind it and a small windowed room to one side with a plaque that read _Gary Goldstein - Attorney at Law_. There were a few waiting seats and every piece of furniture was made of dark, shining wood. Organized stacks of paper were everywhere, with different colored papers sitting on top to hide information. Once Oliver put down his paper cup, he grabbed a stack with a light red paper sitting on top of it and motioned towards the Goldstein office. He motioned for them to sit opposite the desk as Oliver laid out pieces of paper and woke the desktop monitor.

“There’s just a few consents you’ll have to sign for Tim. Stating that you’re his guardian, you’re taking legal ownership of him and are his power for everything until he’s 18. There’s also a signature for earthly possessions and the money. Nothing too complicated, legal papers you’d hear about on TV soaps.” He laid several papers in front of her and handed her a pen. She didn’t care much for reading them and went ahead signing things. “This is an updated demographics information page. You’ll have to put a Hatchetfield address on it. Since we know you haven’t lived here in a while, and since you got the house, it’s assumed you’ll just use that address, but we’ll need email, phone number, social security in this area.” He pointed at some empty lines. Further above, she could see Tom and Jane’s home phone number, their emails, as she signed to become a parent. “This is just a general thing we do, but we’re just gonna take the social security number make sure you’re not on any records in Michigan or federally.”

She snorted a bit, there wasn’t a chance she had a record. They barely getting off DOS systems when she left for Guatemala. Also the fact that the most she did was smoke at school. At least in the United States. Oliver confirmed her clean record quickly enough and did some other things that she only half paid attention to. Her eyes couldn’t leave Jane’s name and birthdate and death date. 12/24/2017. Christmas Eve. People die from car crashes all the time, one the the biggest statistics there was, but between the two of them, Emma never thought she would outlive her sister. She was so much more careful, thoughtful, she never smoke, and never left Hatchetfield, the safest place in the world. But here Emma was, taking Jane’s son. The one still alive and back in the town that didn’t seem to care when she left the first time. How the hell did she get here?

“This is the last thing to sign. It’s about the quarantine and staying at Hatchetfield.”

Emma vaguely remembers a song from RENT that felt appropriate but the words quarantine brought her back into focus. “What?” 

“The conversation about the indefinite stay in Hatchetfield if you chose to take Tim. This is the consent that you are voluntarily taking the quarantine for the safety of yourself and others.” The paper in front of her had the words _undisclosed amount of time that the island and town of Hatchetfield is to be quarantined, with no one entering or exiting until federal mandate is lifted in accordance of President Howard Goodman_. 

“There’s a quarantine, that’s why I can’t leave?”

Oliver only nodded shortly, lips in a thin smile.

“And that’s why I had to get here so fast? To...make it in before the quarantine started?”

“That’s a negative, Ms. Perkins. The quarantine has been around for a few days, yours is the only will that Mr. Linn has gone through that has an outside recipient. And with the circumstances, with both parents passed and no other family within Hatchetfield, we decided to make one exception, guaranteed only if you would come and quarantine here as soon as you got the news.” Colonel Schaffer chimed in from behind, standing at the side of the desk. Oliver nodded again in agreement.

“So, like a medical quarantine? Is there a virus or something?”

“Currently to the public it is a safety quarantine for medical, communal, and safety purposes.” She added.

“Alright then. Will I ever get to know more about what is going on?”

“It depends on what you decide to do with your extra time here, Ms. Perkins. The locals may give you some information, but only those working with the military are in the know about things further than that.” There were a lot of words on the page in front of her, things about not contacting others outside of the island about what is going on. About strict mandates about publicly open areas. About strange sightings and offending citizen hotline. How certain jobs and businesses are transferring their workloads towards helping the military endeavor. There was even a help line, for...who knows, help about the quarantine? At this point, judging from the wording of the papers, even if she refused to sign, she wouldn’t be able to leave. The pen swirled and dated in ink before Oliver stacked the papers onto each other, paper clipping them together and entering some more information into the computer.

“Emma Perkins, you now have guardianship and powers over a Timothy Houston. The money that will go to you is going to be transferred to the bank you have given to us, since there is a branch on the island. The funds will be under his name at the same bank for the several years until he is of age.” Some green stamps clicked on top of a manilla folder. “All the legal procedures are completed and you are now a permanent resident of Hatchetfield at 4210 Dogwood Dr. Tim is currently at home and has been supervised by the neighbors. The Colonel will take you there with your, bag, and we will keep in touch with other forms of paperwork via email and post.”

More nods, formal, but unneeded handshakes, and Emma was being escorted out of Goldstein Consultancy and into a waiting car. The ink drying behind her permanently cemented her back to the island she swore she’d never come back to all those years ago.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lol man this quarantine works for good plot devices doesn’t it. As you can tell, RIP Gary Goldstein, the only murdering lawyer, and only lawyer for that in Hatchetfield. 
> 
> Also I forgot Oliver and the hot chocolate boy/annoying teen were technically different people, but I just put them together. It doesn’t really matter in the long term effects.
> 
> Also does anyone know the names of other military personnel in PEIP? Schaffer, McNamara, Lee, were there names for the three other characters (two background, guy with glasses that does the nuke)? If there is, let me know or I’ll just start making things up lol


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The car ride was quiet both inside and out of the vehicle. The black Prius seemed to be the only car out during the early evening. As they traveled through the town square, which looked renovated and somewhat new yet still rustic and a bit unkempt, most shops seemed to already have their lights off. More than one had a _for lease_ sign hanging in the store front. Even Starbucks seemed to be shut down for the night. There were a few cars parked in the parallel parking spots near the shops, rust beginning to eat away at most of their hoods and undercarriages. Emma knew that Hatchetfield wasn’t an exemplary town, but they usually tried to keep their image up, cars cleaned weekly, a form of church on Sunday, kept lawns. Maybe her generation all felt the way she when she was in Hatchetfield, and Emma was the only one that made it out.

The car ride was quiet both inside and out of the vehicle. The black Prius seemed to be the only car out during the early evening. As they traveled through the town square, which looked renovated and somewhat new yet still rustic and a bit unkempt, most shops seemed to already have their lights off. More than one had a _for lease_ sign hanging in the store front. Even Starbucks seemed to be shut down for the night. There were a few cars parked in the parallel parking spots near the shops, rust beginning to eat away at most of their hoods and undercarriages. Emma knew that Hatchetfield wasn’t an exemplary town, but they usually tried to keep their image up, cars cleaned weekly, a form of church on Sunday, kept lawns. Maybe her generation all felt the way she when she was in Hatchetfield, and Emma was the only one that made it out.

From the front passenger seat, Colonel Schaffer was pointing somewhere out towards the suburb past the end of the business district. Emma leaned forward from the back seat where she was definitely not buckled up. “So, Colonel Schaffer, if Tom’s been gone for a few days now, then what has Tim been doing in the mean time? Does he know how his dad died?”

“Affirmative, Ms. Perkins—“

“Please, call me Emma.”

“Emma, Tim knows that his father has passed, and that it happened at Lakeside. We thought it more sensitive to leave out the stabbing part though. The babysitter that was there when we arrived had been there for almost twenty-four hours and was relieved of her duty and between myself and help of the neighborhood teen who lived across the street we were able to have him supervised for the past few days.”

“That’s, good. Yeah. Uh so it sounds like the Lakeside thing is probably the talk of the town, how am I supposed to know when people are trying to bullshit me?”

The Colonel paused for a second while reaching into the glove compartment. “Emma, I don’t think you’re going to be hearing many rumors for the towns citizens. They’re pretty fragile at the moment.”

Emma snorted, “are you sure? The Hatchetfield I knew was a giant gossip mill.”

“Things have changed, Emma. Maybe some circles still talk, but there’s a lot of, anxiety right now. They are not much for talking to people, or strangers for that matter.”

“So whoever else was here on vacation is pretty much stuck in complete isolation with the communication rules and the towns people shutting up?”

“You’re are the first new face Hatchetfield has had in a long time, Emma. This quarantine has been going on for the past year. The document you signed was one specific for those coming in and out of Hatchetfield, and just updated to include the communication information. There have been no tourists or residents leaving the island since October of last year.”

Emma pursed her lips. That sounded way different than what Oliver was saying in the office to them. And a quarantine starting last year that has no end date? It skipped a few levels on her weird scale for sure. “So I’m the only person that is going to be different in this whole town?”

“Affirmative.”

“And you still expect me to get a job? The papers said I have to continue to support him. No one is going to let me work with them if the town’s been Truman Show’d for the past year.”

“I already have a position that I want you to take, Emma. Don’t worry about job hunting. It’s going to be different from what you’re use to, but it’ll be part working with the government in an entry level position. Those you run into from the town will just think you’re another military personnel that got staffed here.”

“Do I have to wear all that gear?”

The Colonel smiled for a second, “That’s a negative. Unless you really wanted to. But we are not giving a civilian a gun, no matter if you have a CCL. More business casual.”

“I don’t shoot, and I did only pack this one bag. Will shops let me in?”

She considered the question, “Probably. You won’t start until next week. Give me a few days first and I can see what we can do for you.” The Colonel pointed again and the car pulled into a two story house driveway. The yard was kept, but gardening certainly wasn’t the owners deal, judging by the empty flower boxes near the porch and front windows. It was painted a light grey or maybe a blue, the low sun wasn’t helping. There were lights on in the main level only and the garage was open with no cars inside. Three bikes ranging in sizes and what looked to be a pretty advanced tool bench. A scooter lay on it’s side in the middle of the garage along with an medium sized RC car. A general middle income Michigan home. Jane’s home.

The Colonel was already out of the car and opening Emma’s door. Emma stepped out and looked out towards the other houses in the cul-de-sac. Only four or five houses on the side street. Ranging in beige, greys, and whites. All of their garages were closed and outside lights off, she couldn’t even hear any kids playing around in the backyards.

Her and the Colonel walked to the front door, where she rang the bell. “I must escort the babysitter home, so you’ll be on your own for the rest of today. We will come to check in tomorrow in the morning as well as during the evening for the next three days. Then intermittently for a few weeks or so to make sure you are doing alright.”

Emma couldn’t help but roll her eyes, “you mean so you know I didn’t run.”

“Affirmative.” They both gave each other small smiles. “If you do end up needing help. Don’t hesitate to call.” The Colonel handed her a phone. New, sleek, but nothing too fancy like an iPhone. “And I will need your old phone. Any numbers that you will need are already programmed into the new one. If you somehow make friends, then feel free to add them.” Emma would have laughed if she wasn’t so dazed with all these interactions. She flipped the new phone in her hands, lighting up the screen. It was a simple smart phone, something they would pick up at Family Fare by the gift cards. “Any assistance, even monetary assistance, please call.”

“Thanks, Colonel Schaffer.” Emma looked back up to her. She was an older woman, brown hair pulled back into a tight bun that laid beneath the beret she wore. Her brows looked like they were constantly furrowed, but she had long laugh lines on the sides of her mouth. Her light eyes looked as if she had to make them look stern. There was a glint in them, a playful one that tells a different story than this black SWAT uniform. “Really, thanks for all of this. Sorry I was a bit of an ass when it first started.”

“That’s no problem, Emma. These things happen. The world moves on without a thought to us ants and so on.” The door finally opened at that moment. Emma turned to see a young looking girl in a orange beanie. Brown curls poked out down to her neck. She wore an open flannel with what Emma could only guess was some band as a t-shirt underneath. Emma cocked her head and looked back at the Colonel. They had different skin complexions, body builds, eye colors, but their faces looked similar enough that she think they may have been related. “Debra. I have your relief and am hear to escort you home.”

“Cool dude.” Debra looked over to Emma. “Hello, I’m Deb, I guess if you need a baby sitter, you can have Schaffer call me.”

“Hi Deb, I’m Emma.” She greeted with a smile before glancing over Deb’s shoulder. She wanted to see—

“Tim’s in the kitchen, we were about to make some sort of dinner.” She pointed her thumb back towards her right. Emma glanced back at Deb, who gave a half-smile.

“Thanks. I guess I’ll go help him with that then.” Emma turned one last time to the Colonel, “and thank you. I’m sure I’ll be hearing from you.”

“Affirmative. Goodnight Emma.”

The two younger women crossed each other and Emma watched as they all piled into the black car and pulled out of the cup-de-sac. Emma was almost surprised to see another car pulling into a house on the main street that Dogwood was cut into. A grey Civic pulled into the driveway and a tall man in a white shirt was quick to the front door. He danced from foot to foot waiting for the door to be opened and spun to look out at the street as he fidgeted with his hands, scanning just like Emma was before hand. The man did a double take at Emma, staring her down just as much as she was to him. If she wasn’t so surprised to see another human being, she would have realized how rude it was to be staring in the first place. Neither of them waved at each other or nodded, but just continued to stare until the front door opened behind the man. Glancing back at Emma one more time, he rushed into the house before it was shut again.

Emma shut the front door she was at. _Her_ front door now. And turned to look within the house. It was dim, all the lights coming from the kitchen area. The living room and entry way had light colored walls and a couch, armchair, and a TV. There was a game console out but Emma didn’t know which one it was, and other toys all shoved towards a toy box. Between the kitchen and the living room was a set of stairs, leading up to another level with at least three doors, from what she could tell from the bottom. The dining room was directly after, leading into the kitchen. A nice shade of green walls, a bar style countertops, a dining table that could seat four. Emma could remember a crude drawing of this from Jane’s old binder.

“You’re Emma?” A small voice called from within the fridge. It shut to reveal a young boy, lanky but already almost as tall as Emma. He has a mop of dirty blonde hair and eyes that looked like Jane’s. His whole face really looked like Jane’s, small nose, curved jaw, thin lips. He didn’t get their Peurto Rican skin but his fathers mottled red tones. He looked like something Emma should remember, something she should know, probably like all those reminders of events that Jane sent her. But he himself just looked tired.

“Yes, I’m Emma. Emma Perkins. I was, am, your mom’s sister.” Emma said, walking closer and leaning against the counter tops.

“Hi.”

“Hi.”

Tim eyed her up and down and then pulled a picture out from his pocket to show to her. “This is you then?” It was an old photo, one from right before Jane graduated with her bachelor’s and was about to move on to Pharmacology. Emma was just entering her senior year.

“Yup.”

Tim held the photo with reverence, his thumb smoothing out across his mothers face. “She talked about you a lot, more when dad was at work or just wasn’t around. Why have I never seen you before?”

Emma laced her hands together glancing too at Jane’s face. “I lived in Guatemala. It was...hard to come back and forth.”

“Dad said you were a runaway.”

Emma chewed on her lip. She didn’t know if what he wanted was honesty or support right now. The kid was barely 10 years old and lost both his parents within two years. Does he really want to know why he lost his aunt before he was even born? “I, I had a hard time with your grandparents, your mom and my’s parents. I didn’t run away, I was legally old enough to do what I wanted. But yes, I did leave Hatchetfield.”

“Mom said your parents always wanted more from you that you couldn’t give.”

 _Shit kid, that’s more thoughtful than I could give you._ “Yeah you could say that.”

“Did you feel wanted?”

“Sometimes.”

“But not all the time.”

Emma paused, tapping her fingers against against each other, she gave a slow nod. “Some parents are shit like that.” She grimaced. “Are crap, sorry.” She thought about her words carefully. Maybe that’s how he felt about his father. A child who was at home when his dad died doing god knows what, certainly would have about the same feeling right about now.

“It’s okay, dad swears too, he does it a lot when he has flashbacks.” There was a small grin that turned slowly. “He did swear...so don’t worry about your language.”

“Alright.”

“Yup.”

They were at a stalemate. Emma never spent much time around other kids, even when she was a kid. And this kid has been through so much trauma that it’s hard enough to be himself at this point. She didn’t want to push him, make him uncomfortable with conversations that could trigger something that neither of them wanted to remember. Emma looked everywhere that wasn’t towards him. She decided to let him lead her on those conversations, when it was time, he would know. 

“Do you think this’ll work out?” He said after a while, looking up to her. She had to think about what he was talking about, them working out together as a family, the quarantine? She couldn’t be sure.

“I dunno. I hope so, you seem chill and I love grilled cheese.” She nodded towards the items sitting near the stove. “So I think we can work out.”

Tim gave her a smile, there was still hints of sadness in it, but it was better than before. Emma smiled back, walking around the counter to start the stove. They cooked mostly in silence. Emma pulled out her most important item from her bag, her speaker, out and hooked it up to her new phone while downloading a video player app. Tim liked watching Fortnite funnies, Emma didn’t really get it but showed Tim what America’s Funniest Home Videos were. They were surprised they could mix so well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess I’m on a roll. Have to go back to work at my hospital this weekend though so it’ll slow down then probably.
> 
> While it’s a very important plot point to how Emma gets back to Hatchetfield, Tim and their relationship isn’t going to be a huge piece of this thing, but I won’t leave him out in the car if you get my drift. I want to focus on Emma, eventually get to Paul, and the shady shit that’s going on in Hatchetfield.
> 
> you’ll never guess who that was outside at that other house btw lol


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think this is what’s called an exposition dump. Shwoops  
> Also I aged Tim up just a touch to make him less vulnerable.

The rest of the time they had on their first night together was spent with safe topics. General information about each other, things they liked to do, movies, video games, memories that didn’t hurt. Tim just started 6th grade at Hatchetfield Intermediate and while doing well, would rather play Overwatch. Emma thought it was weird that school was still functioning, bud didn’t say anything about it. Neither mentioned anything about Tom or Jane. She watched Tim go through his nighttime routines before wandering around the rest of the house.

The house was sparingly decorated but she could tell Jane was here at one point. Pictures of her, Tom, and Tim hung with a film of dust coating the glass. There was a guest room on the main floor, which she dropped her stuff into. There were still clothes lying on the floor, she thinks Tom must have slept in here after Jane’s death.

The basement was small, mainly a storage space for an island home. There were bins labeled with Jane’s name stacked on the wall, more labeled the same, but were still unpacked sat in the center. A beige canvas bag was also packed against the wall. Emma assumed it was Tom’s stuff from the army. A black box sat next to it with two clasps on the side.

She crept upstairs passed Tim’s cracked door towards the master bedroom. She’s almost surprised there’s not a cloud of dust that wafts out when she opened the door. The room looked like a mausoleum. Bed perfectly made, a vanity with jewelry and make up products still out. The closet was still open but half filled, sun dresses dull and limp. The bedspread was a light purple, Jane’s favorite color. It looked like a checklist of Jane’s perfect bedroom. A bigger version of when they’re parents let her paint her room as when she turned 16.

Emma chewed on her lip, she could only imagine the things she could find out about her sister if she opened the drawers or those boxes in the basement. What Tom chose to hide that was too painful for him to look at. Things, trinkets that described something about her that Emma never bothered to learn. So many stories, so many memories she made without her. Emma chose it that way, but looking at this room that hadn’t been used in at least a year was bitter sweet.

She backed out of the room, the upper level too dark to take anymore sights of someone else’s past before making her way back the guest room.

She was up to watch Tim off in the morning. He seemed like a natural at it, much more independent compared to when she was 13 years old. A normal looking yellow bus came to get him, though the driver looked the same as the boat driver from yesterday. There weren’t many kids on that bus, but enough that Emma wouldn’t have guessed anything was going on. As the bus rounded out of their street, she watched as two men left the house across the road. The same one that someone entered yesterday. They were still the only house to be active in the area.

She wandered the empty house, checking the rooms once more like something would change between last night and then, but everything was as it was. Emma wondered if she should pack some of Tom’s things away that littered the place, like the beers that Tim wouldn’t be using or the construction stuff that would sit to rust since they were passed onto Emma. By late morning she opened up the garage to check inside and see if anyone else actually lived in the neighborhood. Still quiet as before. Some cars have seemed to have left their places in the driveways, but she couldn’t even hear a TV or radio running from within a house. Next to the tool bench was a cabinet that was padlocked shut. It was tall and looked to have been made by hand, presumably from the supplies next to her. An industrial sized radio sat on top of the bench, covered in sawdust. She wiped off the buttons and turned it on. Surprising, none of her local channels she could remember from childhood were running. Lots of static between the nationwide stations that played between there and Wisconsin. 

A stroll to the backyard showed an impressive swing set, tall as the ones at public parks. A grey shed chilled behind the house though Emma didn’t have the key to it either. It wasn’t a bad area, small, trees rising behind them up the clay hills that the island sat on. It was... domestic. Exactly what Jane had wanted. Emma could see Jane swinging with Tim on the swing sets, smiling as he laughed, laughing as he jumped and tumbled across the patchy grass. Her binder completed page by page.

Returning back to the front of the house, she was greeted by the same black car as yesterday. She rounded it, peering inside to find it already empty.

“You may want to turn this thing down there, Emma.” She startled to find Colonel Schaffer inside Jane’s, her, garage, standing next to the radio. Posture as professional as ever, but her wardrobe with less combat strappings. The Colonel had already turned down the volume a few clicks before Emma arrived by her side. “People aren’t too keen on loud music around here anymore.”

“That why the streets so dead?” She asked, just turning the music off all together.

“You could say that, yes. I brought you a few things to prepare you for your new posting and some clothes that are in the car. The clothes aren’t much, but they’ll probably fit you, I have an eye for measurements.” She said marching back towards the car. From the back seat she pulled out a few two storage containers, one larger than the other. She handed the smaller one to Emma. “Also to let you know, Tim goes to the school everyday for 8 hours a day. Not every day is a learning day, but it’s for better supervision.”

Emma cocked her head. “A bit authoritarian. Isn’t it?”

“Can’t deny that. But we want to continue the social structures that children need to develop. And as you can tell by your neighboring houses, it wouldn’t be done otherwise in the current state.” The Colonel said as they entered into the house, she set the larger tub at the bottom of the steps, “clothes,” and then took the other tub from Emma, “the adults in Hatchetfield are having a hard time...readjusting. We don’t want that stress to permeate. There’s quite a few teachers that volunteered from the community to continue to help the students, as well as the young adults such as Debra, you met yesterday.”

“Guess that makes sense.” They went to the dining table, the Colonel set down the storage bin and popped the lid open. Inside were multiple folders, a binder, CD, a computer, and what looked like a pager. She turned the computer on, a sleek corporate machine that hummed as it booted.

“This,” the Colonel said, pulling out the binder and CD, “is for your posting. You’ll be assisting the tech department that we’ve grown since taking base at Hatchetfield. You’ll be like the runner for them to the higher ups and other departments. It’ll be pretty simple, but it’ll be something to continue the account that has been given to you. Inside the binder are just general HR information and policies, procedures. The disc is for loading on Microsoft and Teams. There’s already hard firewall, security management, and an email attached with your name on it. The binder has your log in credentials for both the computer and the email. There’s also a IT support credential in there though that’s only if others in the department call in sick, we won’t make you learn to far out of the realms.” The folders were next. “This folder has information for the new bank accounts and the money transfers from the Houston’s. Papers you need for the house, change of address papers, the likes. A bank card. These other folders are redacted files about what has happened within the past two years.” They were black and embossed with an army symbol on the front. “Remember, you’re a civilian, so a lot of it’s redacted. Again, if you somehow make social with others, you can ask at your own risk.”

“Thanks, Colonel Schaffer.” Emma said, a bit of hesitancy in her voice. She wondered if the Colonel would get in trouble for giving these out, even if they were marked up.

“Not a problem, Emma. Once you log into the computer and into the email, there will be multiple emails that you will have to go through, videos for the job, orientation type things. Watch them and then message that you’ve completed. Shouldn’t take you more than a day or two, giving breaks. I’ll be picking you up around the same time the bus comes to pick Tim up. I’ll escort you the first week there and back and after that it’ll be up to you. We can talk further transportation later.” Emma nodded along, staring at the two black folders in her hands, there was heft, but they didn’t seem to hold too many papers. Certainly less than what was in her personal folder she received. “And that’s your mandatory morning visit. We’ll probably send someone else out tonight to check in once Tim is home.”

“Sounds good. Thank you, again.” The Colonel nodded and took leave. Emma woke the computer again and logged in with the credentials in the front of the binder. There was only one browser and various tools already installed into the computer. Also three different security systems, ranging from ones she’s heard of to ones with the federal logo on them. Inside the email were a dozen or so emails. She opened the part one and let it begin to play. It looked to be a general orientation to a job posting with the government. A small description in the email talked about how every staff member of the United States has to go through this one and how it gets more detailed with each video.

Within the first five minutes, she could care less what the video was saying. It sounded like any other job video or first day orientation training that is given, from the Starbucks down the road to the hospital up the street. She fiddled with the black folders stacked on top of each other next to her, flipping one open and looking at the stapled stack of papers in one of it’s pockets. _Hatchetfield Lakeside Riot: Date of Occurrence 11/26/2019_. This was whatever happened a few days ago. This had how Tom died, if it wasn’t blacked out. She pulled the other one out from underneath and flipped it open. There were two separately stapled packets. _Hatchetfield Mass Hysteria Incident: Date of Occurrence 10/30/2018_ and _Hatchetfield Mass Hysteria Incident: Resolution_.

The video still had another thirty minutes before the next one started, she set a timer on her phone and opened up the Lakeside Riot packet. The front was embossed as well. There are a few names under it, including President Howard Goodman and a person named General John H. McNamera. The next page had locations, coordinates, all centered around the Lakeside Mall in Hatchetfield. A place Emma used to sneak to after school when she was supposed to be at debate club. 

All the names were blacked out, addresses were gone and the name of the mall was gone, which Emma thought was stupid since it’s the name of the fucking document. It started out talking about a toy and two people that made a business deal to do market testing at a store. There were a few toy stores in the mall, Emma wondered which one it would be. The government was informed around 9am that morning about fights breaking out in the store. Upon arrival, there were people in the parking lot trying to leave but would become aggressive if stopped for anything, even just for questions about where the fights were. Some got physical with the the army that arrived. People that obtained said toys became super possessive and fought to keep it. It said “due to previous occasions, forces were told not to proceed inside”. Another section talked about “exterminate all those who do not comply.” 

Emma gaped, thinking about them sitting outside and watching people crawl or fight their way out only to be greeted to the army chilling outside. She wondered if Tom made it outside to be stabbed when he didn’t work with them. Running for your life can only make you so trusting at the time? It’s really technical, talking about staking out procedures for if certain things happened, conversations that they tried to have.

_Officer: Sir, are you okay? Can you come to me?_

_[———]: He’s mine! You can’t take him from me!_

_Officer: We do not want anything, we just want to talk._

_[———]: You can’t talk to my frendy-wend? He says you aren’t our friend. You’re here to destroy his creation. He says you won’t live to see his birth—_

_[———] grapples with officer and gun. [———] exterminated after killing officer [———]._

A lot of the conversations went like that. Lot of creepy baby talk. Talking about a ‘he’ that was being born. People stopped coming out of the building. The toys that did make it out were instantly destroyed. A fire was started by late evening, after hours of no contact with anyone inside. Upon entering after the fire roared for four hours, there were only bodies left. Burned frames of stores and which ever toy shop was selling these things had bodies killed from flames, crush, slit throats, gunshot wounds. It seemed all the gore centered around there.

Emma flipped around the pages, skimming the majority of it as it described types of wounds on bodies and the amount of fire damage was detected throughout the building. This section was much less cut up. Once they exit their proclaimed incident times, it called for a set up base on Hatchetfield by the Secretary of Defense led by General McNamera to continue monitoring.

It didn’t explain as much as she hoped it would. She wouldn’t even be able to identify which person could have been Tom. Items of clothing were even inked out, like when describing a gun shot wound on a person and everything besides head is gone. Emma huffed, stuffing it back into it’s folder.

She was half way through the second video about confidentiality and compliancy. It was pretty self explanatory. The next black folder was already opening in front of her, the first packet pulled out.

This one was harder to follow, not because of all the jargon, but because the idea of mass hysteria, going this fucking far, was beyond her own comprehension. People working together to conform others to their ideologies. An almost mind control, cult shit that was told to them that happened after the survivors got the thing over with. Surprisingly, there was a meteor crash the night before, and they said that the hysteria may have stemmed from this, the idea of aliens hiding amongst them. The army even fell for it when they arrived.

It seems like so much could happen in a day, yet it was just as short as the Lakeside Mall Incident. There’s gaps of information missing. Like who started it, why they were attacking people, how it ended up stopping? Emma opened up the other folder again to look back to conclude the same thing happened in the recent one. But the hysteria one, that one had people live through, so how come they couldn’t get that information?

The resolution one was even shorter. There was nothing that corroborated the ending besides one man that did something that snapped them out of it. Mainly, snapped the military out of it was able to get things under control. They had name of some military personnel, like the General McNamera from the recent report. They used “placebo drug administered orally or through water based transmission” to ‘cure’ the populous. There’s a comment that some did not respond to the placebo and were labeled to have a psychotic break and put into state psychiatric facilities.

Emma shoved the papers away. Muttering to herself how ‘utter bullshit’ the papers were. They barely made sense, she didn’t know if someone that was there could even pull out a plot around them. Coupled with the video directions on how to use Microsoft Excel, she felt was glad she didn’t dump those cans of beer from the fridge. She leaned back at the dining table and downed a can before thinking about staring another video. By the time she went for another beer, Tim was coming back from school, or whatever they said was school now. 

“Hey.” Emma called, shutting the computer lid.

“Hey.” Tim dropped his bag on a chair and gestured towards the items on the desk. “What’s this?” He said, taking the binder in his hands.

 _Ah shit._ “Oh, they hooked me up with a job. It’s just a lot of orientation sh-shtuff.” She said, grabbing the folders before he could look in them. 

“With the federal government.” He said, holding the binder out for emphasis. “Schaffer gave you the job?”

“Yeah, is that alright? It sounds like they’ve kind of taken a lot of things over in the past few days.”

Tim shrugged, “I don’t care, they’ve been here for a couple years. Dad wasn’t a fan. Schaffer seems nice. I like her, the other ones aren’t very social unless you go to their base downtown.”

Emma took of what he said about Tom. Being a military man himself, it was odd that he didn’t want other military men around. “Did you hang out with Schaffer a lot?”

Tim plopped down into a chair next to Emma. “She came over here after the fire.” “That’s nice of her.” Emma commented. “Yeah.” They both stare at each other, neither of them knowing what else to say. Tim rolled his neck sighing loudly before throwing another topic out into the air. “So...there’s these other kids are talking about trying to book it over to Clivesdale.”

Emma snorted. “I dunno, I had a hard enough time getting over here, let alone trying to leave.” 

“The others thought that was weird too, that you’re hear. You’re the only new person we’ve seen since the military came. They barely are sending more army people over. They got a ton of people from here to work with them.” 

“That big of a project?”

Tim snorted. “Two years ago there was this like ‘psychosis’ or whatever, and it made people do a weird mind meld. Like a weird Star Wars thing. It’s really creepy when people can say the same things at the same time while trying to break your door down.” He trailed, fidgeting with the binder in his hands. “Sounds like a weird musical.” “Yeah.” “I’m sorry that happened.” 

He shrugged. “I mean, yeah, sure. It’s confusing.” 

“If it makes you feel better, I’ll never listen to musicals again.”

Tim cocked his head with a smile as small as Emma’s. He looked like he had more to say, looked like he wanted to say something more, but he didn’t. Instead he stood and excused himself to the bathroom and said he had homework to do after. Emma shrugged, “same,” she snorted tapping the computer lid.

The conversation was paused as they worked silently at the dining room table. Dinner was served somewhere in between when another officer knocked on the door to get verbal confirmation from Emma that she hadn’t and wasn’t trying to leave anytime soon. The box had food supplies that she would volunteer give in Guatemala, with some more pleasantries like ice cream, ground beef, and soda. It kind of reminded her of being back south, getting supplies at the hostels or the packs that were passed from volunteers. That’s one of the reasons why she liked Guatemala and her freelance life. It was a simple way to live. Find a volunteer organization to trade with for food or housing. Got a job at a bar filled with drunk tourists and locals that knew how it felt to still want excitement even as they got up their in age. She worried about herself and no one asked for anything further than a drink of water or vodka. There was no emotional shaping or anything to confront other than drunkards that wouldn’t go away. But this, sitting with Tim as he worked on American History and did Algebra that Emma tried to help with with varying success, this was different. Tim was too young to keep everything to himself, but how could she help him to feel okay, to feel safe when she herself didn’t know what it meant to feel and not bury them so far that it’s like it never happened. He’s given a few small hints towards what is going on and how he feels, and Emma appreciated that he felt safe enough to start the conversation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the dump, it kind of explains a bit of the differences between Starkid’s one and what I’m doing. The government team plays a huge role, and don’t worry, there’s still secrets abound, who knows what’s the truth and what’s not. 
> 
> For a second I was going to have Tom and Tim not be in Hatchetfield when the meteor hit, but he would be young so I guess I can plot point that away. It can also help explain his weird behavior, even though the death of your wife should be enough, give more reason to be weird around his son maybe.
> 
> Obviously lot less people died (duh) in both of them, the army was monitoring the Black Friday events but the stuff with Goodman going to the Black and White never happened, which is something that’s not explained but I’ll just say here because he’s not really mentioned in the story. This then, means they don’t know what the black and white is (yet lol)


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They were coming back through the town center. There were other cars around this time, what must be people going to work. Other sleek black cars like the one she was in seemed to be in between each normal one. A few people were walking on the sidewalks, heads down with big strides, barely a side eye to the cars as they passed. Definitely not the Hatchetfield that Emma had left all those yers ago. The Hatchetfield Emma knew was nosy as fuck, they knew who everyone was screwing before they even screwed, why you missed work last Tuesday. You got judged by the car you drove and the brand of crackers you buy. This head down, shutters closed Hatchetfield had replaced the faux geniality the islanders passed on to each other. Maybe this was what was hiding behind the fake smiles and cordial blessings.
> 
> The car stopped in front of a multistoried business office. Colonel Schaffer led her to the elevator through the front door and hit the third floor. A plaque on the wall read _Level 3 - CCRP Technical_. Emma cocked her head, “fake business front?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Man you gotta write a lot of set up before anything can get moving, don’t ya?

They fell into an easy routine. Slowly they learned more about each other.

Time liked science and history. Emma was a theatre nerd. Time used to play baseball and wanted to join the school team, Emma did cross country and hated every moment of it. Tim used to go shooting with his dad, which was more out of necessity, according to his dad, than fun. Emma once punched a drunk tourist that tried to kiss a server. Emma liked cheesy boy bands, and to her surprise Tim said he only listened to jazz and classical for some time now.

Sometimes after dinner, Emma would watch him play video games. From fantastical, vibrant shooters to realistic war simulators to a 8bit farming games. He’d ask if she wanted to try playing but she was content with just watching from the couch as he shot zombies in the head. Other times, after he went to bed, she could hear Tim praying. She never lingered too long, but she’s heard him speaking to his parents. Emma usually stayed up until 1 or 2am, fervently looking for news on Hatchetfield and never finding anything useful. The nights she doesn’t have music softly playing in the background, she can hear Tim upstairs shifting in bed, trying his hardest to keep in his cries. He would tell her during dinner one night that he dreams a lot, though wouldn’t say about who or what.

Emma noticed keys hanging up near the back door during a break from her midday research. Two sets of house keys and the keys to the shed in the backyard that held the usual lawn care equipment. Next to them sat a car fob and extra car key, though there was no car in sight for them to be used on. Under those was a small set of padlock keys, what she could only assume belonged to the cabinet next to the tool bench. She told herself that she’d check it out next time she was around in the garage if she remembered and left the keys for safe keeping on their hooks.

Then the day came when both her and Tim were being picked up in the morning. Emma waved Tim off and stood awkwardly adjusting the clothes that she pulled out of the storage bin the night before. The computer in a shoulder bag she found on top of the clothes. Even having a second viewing of the videos, she felt unprepared for the day, it wasn’t so much of the work that she would have to do, per say, she could be a glorified paper pusher, but finally meeting actual people that wasn’t Schaffer felt overbearing. The neighbors she had spotted from the windows barely left their cars before shutting their garage, let alone sit with them for 8 hours of the day.

Schaffer pulled into the driveway soon after the bus disappeared. Today, she had someone else driving for her. Emma shuffled into the back seat and greeted them both.

“Good morning Emma, I’m going to drop you off with your supervisor and be on my way. My superior requested my assistance for this morning. Your supervisor’s name is Melissa. Sweet girl, a bit younger than you. I think you’ll get along fine.” 

“Oh, alright.” Emma replied, trying to hide the tinge of sadness that she wouldn’t have a familiar face around as a clutch.

“Don’t worry, your posting is an assistant position to take some of the work off of Melissa. She’ll be grateful for you just being there. Once the shift ends, I’ll be waiting outside to escort you home.” Another nod. “It’ll be just like any other office job.”

“Yeah, no problem. Like any other job.” Emma said glancing out the window. They were coming back through the town center. There were other cars around this time, what must be people going to work. Other sleek black cars like the one she was in seemed to be in between each normal one. A few people were walking on the sidewalks, heads down with big strides, barely a side eye to the cars as they passed. Definitely not the Hatchetfield that Emma had left all those yers ago. The Hatchetfield Emma knew was nosy as fuck, they knew who everyone was screwing before they even screwed, why you missed work last Tuesday. You got judged by the car you drove and the brand of crackers you buy. This head down, shutters closed Hatchetfield had replaced the faux geniality the islanders passed on to each other. Maybe this was what was hiding behind the fake smiles and cordial blessings.

The car stopped in front of a multistoried business office. Colonel Schaffer led her to the elevator through the front door and hit the third floor. A plaque on the wall read _Level 3 - CCRP Technical_. Emma cocked her head, “fake business front?”

The Colonel grinned. “Negative, think of it as a contract partner. They existed before we arrived on the island. The government is just an important client.”

“And you contracted them to do tech support?”

“Somewhat. They’re creating reports, watching what comes in and out of IPs in Hatchetfield. If someone is searching for key terms that may be interesting to us, they’ll flag it. Keeping track of communication from here to the shore—“

“So you’re spying on everyone.”

“With what’s going on, Emma, it’s for the good of the country that information stay limited to the public at this time. They do general tech support too, monitor the security and firewalls that we use. Keep the machines running. We could only bring a small crew of military personnel over and our general had some connections within CCRP. It’s not as malicious as it sounds. I promise.” The Colonel glanced down to Emma who could only shrug, eyes roaming the elevator walls.

Government cover ups was not on the custody forms, that’s for sure. Then again, from the reports that she read, people had died and others almost abducted into a cult. They already have seen what happens if paranoia builds, it’s just precautionary to understand and be researched before throwing it out to the world, right? It’s a much larger ethical dilemma than ex-communicating one’s family.

The Colonel was still watching her, surveying Emma’s movements as the door opened, “Hopefully, this won’t be a problem, will it?”

Emma stuttered out of the elevator behind the other woman. “I don’t think, it’s just, a lot. Y’know? Confusing when you have literally no context. I don’t want to be ungrateful. It’s really great you hooked me up, it’s —“

“It’s alright Emma. You’re not the only dissident voice. That’s why we have two parties. The government is a grey place. A lot of the journey doesn’t make sense until you reach the goal. Just think of it as protecting the human race.” She said quietly as they walked into the office.

Inside was the usual cube farm, grey and beige dividers, white walls, bright fluorescents. Boxes of six littered the space but only a few near the far wall were occupied. The ones near the windows and closer to the elevator sat with a light film of dust, computers off and personal affects still littering some of the slots. Empty coffee cups, colored binders, and framed pictures lay forgotten to time in what looked like a mass layoff that happened some time ago that never got around to being cleaned up. They could hold maybe 20 to 40 people in the room but Emma could count everyone on her fingers. Two groups were used near an open L-shaped desk near the corner exit. There doors that held name plates next to them but had printed signs that read “offline” taped to their small windows.

Two men dressed in black entered from a far door towards the workers in the room. The men in black nodded towards the Colonel as they passed, presumably military, before holding up a paper to one of the men at the computer. The three at the desks were dressed like normal business people, civilians. Tucked shirts, ties. Total yuppies if Emma ever saw one. The one on the far right talked softly to the men in black. His hands ran through his short black hair as he pointed out something on the papers. His brown eyes darted back and forth from the papers to the two women passing by, trying be discrete about it. He was doing better than his two coworkers, who stared openly as the women came closer. One had slicked back hair and the most disgusting mustache that Emma’s ever seen, his eyebrows looked drawn on his face above wild eyes, more expressional than a cartoon character. Across from his sat another man with startling blue eyes that were almost popping out of his skull, lips pursed tightly as if he’s holding his breath. His skin was pale, the white shirt not helping his complexion. Emma wondered if everyone that worked here looked like they belonged in a sitcom. The man talking to the others bumped the blued eyed guys arm, giving him a chastising look for staring. Emma tried to not stare back, if she was back in Guatemala, she’d be calling them out for gawking, but she kept it in.

The two women walked up to the large open desk where a young woman sat boring holes into her computer. She didn’t even see the walking up. She was maybe five years younger than Emma, long brown hair and thick rimmed glasses. She wore a tartan business jacket on top of a white blouse. Emma could hear the woman’s feet tapping against her plastic carpet protector.  
It took them stopping in front of her desk for her to realize that she had company and straightened up to a small gasp.

“Oh, hi.”

“Sorry for startling you Melissa. I wanted to introduce you to your assistant. This is Emma Perkins. She’s taking this posting at my behest.” 

“Chris—Colonel Schaffer. Hi, yes. I got the memo. Uh, thank you. I’m Melissa, hello.” She stuck a hand out for Emma to shake. “It’s nice to meet a new face.” She said with a smile, one that looked genuine, almost relieved.

“Nice to meet you too.”

“Melissa, I need to go assist the General. Please make sure Emma feels welcomed, maybe get your men to stop staring too.” The Colonel said, tipping her head back to the row of computers behind her. Melissa blushed, smiling and looking away before taking a deep breath and nodding. “Good day ladies. I’ll be back around 1600.”

They parted, the Colonel stopping with the two military men before heading back for the elevator. Emma stood tottering foot to foot as Melissa scrambled around with some papers on her desk. “Yes, yeah, sorry it’s been wild. I’m kind of disorganized at the moment. But that’s what you’re here for right? It’s not going to be exciting work but it’s a living.” She said giving a small chuckle and adjusting her glasses. “We don’t do a lot of meetings anymore, but a lot of things the government wants delivered by hand because some people don’t trust email that higher up, so I’ll be showing you some routes and you’ll be helping with that, if that’s alright. You’ll be keeping an eye on the department schedule too for when people have time off and stuff. They like to know where everyone is, y’know how the government rolls.”

Emma snorted giving the younger woman a nod. There were things she was showing her behind the desk, types of forms that she’ll see, how to read some of the papers that’ll come passed her. How to view the security walls and IP lines, “but don’t worry, that’s the boys’ job. I really don’t get the high tech stuff, I just let them send in the reports and get them passed. You’re pretty much an assistant to a bigger assistant.” They shared a quiet laugh. Emma enjoyed the almost normal conversation they were sharing. It didn’t feel too stressed, didn’t feel like something huge was looming over their head. Just business as usual.

A lot of time was spent helping Emma set up her computer to view emails and schedules, hooking up to printers which Melissa said “was the bane of their existence in the office” and talking about the multiple departments that ran in this building and around the town. Emma sat and nodded when prompted. Drank the conversation like she was dying for interactions. She didn’t realize how much she missed being social, not that Tim wasn’t a good person to hang out with. It was a nice break to the silent neighborhood she was in all last week.

“Oh we’ll probably have to set you up with a monitor too. I uh...” She stood and walked towards the desks next to the three other men. There were two rows of three, but it looked like the one man with the mustache had taken a divider down on his side, giving him two screens and more room to trash his papers on his desk. Melissa set Emma’s computer at the left end, closest to her desk and quickly removed some pictures that were pinned to the divider. Pictures of cats, a police officer, a hand stitched cat face. It didn’t go unnoticed by the others at the desk, who eyed each other and looking hard at the mustachioed man who frowned at his screen. “I’ll have you set up here.” She said, stacking the personal items and putting them on the empty desk across from her, close to the man’s double space. “I think you’ll pretty much shadow me for the first few days, maybe the week. I dunno yet. But this is our small crew. This is Ted—“ She pointed towards the guy with the mustache, “Bill” she motioned towards the one with short crimped hair, he waved, “and Paul.” She pointed towards the pale one with blue eyes that were still bugging out. Out of everyone, he looked the most nervous, like Emma was about to try to bite his head off. She gave a small small and wave, trying to look non-threatening. Anything to get this guy to stop staring so sharply at her. Maybe it was just the contrast of his eyes, almost an electric blue. “We just help run some tech stuff for the government so they don’t have to worry about that too. Take some things off their plate.”

Emma nodded, eyes scanning around the room and all the other empty cubicles. “Cool, did they only hire a few of you to contract for them?”

The four glanced around at each other. Ted ducked in closer to his screen. “Uh,” Melissa piped up. “We’re all that’s left from Technical. It’s, a long story.”

“No worries.” Emma waved. “Been hearing that a lot.”

“So let’s go check what’s going on in my email and see what we can get you watching on.” Melissa said leading Emma back to her own desk. “And you’ll be able to just leave your computer here, you don’t have to take it home if you don’t want to.” Another chair was pulled up and they sat and skimmed through the emails streaming in. There were a lot with military emails. Mentions of reports, asking about hot spots, some weird security questions. One was asking how to program an Alexa device for voice recognition, to which Melissa replied that they are not allowed. As she explained general email and scheduling objectives, Emma watched out of the corner of her eye as Paul walked around the desk and picked up the items from the old owner of Emma’s desk. Paul looked down at them for a moment before handing them towards Ted, who swiped them out of the others hand with a glare before softening and giving him a nod.

After the day was done Emma took notice as she left that the cat face was stuck up with scotch tape on one of Ted’s monitors.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally met the gang. We’re getting places, slowly. I guess this will be a slow burn, though the relationships aren’t the most important part of this story, i think. Who knows.
> 
> And yes, Charlotte will be mentioned but she is not going to be part of this story. Sorry y’all.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Safe to say she wasn’t worrying about the boys liking her. Besides the one interaction she had was enough to remind her that there’s some strange things happening to the strange people on this strange island.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There’s a bit of a time skip around here soon. You’ll run into others soon too.

The end of her second day at the CCRP office was similar to the first. Emma got along with Melissa quite well; they never ventured further than work conversations besides her fleeting mentions of her girlfriend, but it was much more natural than when Emma was left around the three others in the office, who rarely spoke to each other, let alone her.

With all the training, interactions were sparse. She could tell they were still baffled by the arrival of a new person on the island, but it didn’t bother Emma. She was a drifter for her entire adult life, a no-strings attached woman. Provide for herself because there are no hand-outs in this world. Not even when she was a kid. Being alive was a burden to everyone, there was no joy of being a parent during her childhood, that was all used up during Jane’s childhood. What a cliche to not put a lot of trust in others so they don’t break your heart, right? But it’s a learned habit or you give up to helplessness and the sadness that slowly bores through the rib cage. It’s just easier. Less time spent on wondering if all this living is even worth it. There’s a saying that her mother used to talk about how dying wasn’t just the death of the body, but the last time someone uses your name. She said she got it from her own Abuela but Emma was pretty sure she got that from a Pinterest picture. Emma thought of it as being a Good Samaritan, no one’s hurt that she splits before they wake up the next morning and she doesn’t have to sweat over someone only having her around until her use runs out.

Safe to say she wasn’t worrying about the boys liking her. Besides the one interaction she had was enough to remind her that there’s some strange things happening to the strange people on this strange island. Melissa wanted Emma to take a report from Bill downstairs to a Lieutenant.

_“Yes, I printed it a few minutes ago.” Bill stated with a small smile before reaching down under his desk, leafing through the papers on the printer. He hummed to himself, “looks like it’s not here.” Running his hand over his head he wagged a finger in the air as he got an idea but spoke with no emotion in his face._

_“The networks closed, it’s in the other one.”_

_A rational sounding answer, very rational indeed, but not when it was said in complete unison from every single person sitting before you._

_It made Emma’s skin crawl, a chill racing up her spine enough to hear her ear drums rattle at the sensation. Her eyes flickered between the three others, tongue stuck in between her teeth. The air even felt different, denser, hotter, but the others didn’t seem as concerned. Not only that, they looked almost perturbed, as if it was a prank gone sour. A vulgar joke that was regretted before it even left the perpetrators mouth. The silence just made it worse. Like they knew it was weird and probably uncomfortable but the dissonance in their faces made Emma want to smack it off them. Even though she hated it, she felt it inappropriate to be the next person to speak._

_Ted was the first to move from the apparent stand off that was created. He flopped back into his chair and reached for his printer tray. “Ya fuckin’ noodle, get your printers right.” He grumbled, tossing some paper over the divider and directly into Bill’s neck._

_“Knock it off, you know the printers are like that.” Bill said back, sounding not too far off from a moody teen._

_“If ya’d just go to your damn settings, it wouldn’t be a problem, would it?”_

_“Mind your own business.”_

_“Mind my own—“ Ted flailed his hands near his face. “ How would I? How even? It was in my tray! You want me to just ignore my own printer? Hey I see you going there lil’ buddy maybe I forgot that I didn’t print anything in the last 3 seconds and if Mr. Bill comes by I can tell him to look for her reports up his—“_

_“Ted, enough.” Paul piped up, tugging at his tie. He was turning a new shade of red as he pinched the bridge of his nose. “It’s fine, it’s done. You don’t have to go at him.”_

_Ted’s hands dropped to the desk with a thud. “Oh c’mon, oh great compromiser, can’t we have one little spat it’s not like we haven’t—“_

_Paul cut him off startling Emma as he stood up quickly and clapped his hands together. “I’m gonna go get some coffee, you guys want the usual? Nice cup to get us through the afternoon.” He didn’t wait for a response as he started to walk for the door, as he passed he leaned towards her and said definitely loud enough that the others could hear him, “run.”_

_Emma did a sharp 180 and was almost jogging to keep up with Paul, who held the door open for her as they exited into the main hallway. The door clicked shut and he let out a sigh, eyebrows raised with a tight smile. “You’re welcome.”_

_Emma chuckled, “yeah, thanks for the save. Didn’t mean to cause that much trouble in my first days.”_

_“Oh that?” He said, pointing his thumb back at the door. “That’s normal, don’t worry ‘bout them. They’re just, y’know. Goofs.”_

_Emma snorted. “Goofs, yup, guess you can say that.”_

_They shared a smile before realizing they haven’t moved from outside the door. She wondered if they could hear her inside. Emma raised the report for emphasis. “Got to bring these downstairs.”_

_“Oh, yeah, I got you. It’s okay. I’ll meet you back in there soon enough.” He said, giving her a cheesy thumbs up. She returned the gesture and they both went towards different exits._

By the time she returned, Paul did bring everyone a coffee but she had no clue where he got it from so fast. Melissa had stepped out for a conversation with the Colonel so Emma went to her desk. Next to her laptop she found a small mocha. She smiled and looked over to Paul. “Thanks.”

“No problem.” He nodded.

This kind of silence, she could deal with, a comfortable, business as usual silence. They seemed to be chilled out, back to their quiet clicks. As the hour was struck, Paul packed up and left early that day. Emma could see on the schedule time off for a medical appointment. Melissa had mentioned that earlier and had given her an excel spread that she wanted cleaned up, though it may be that her boss was running out of things to show her.

Bill was playing with some buttons on his printer before standing to stretch his back. She opened up her computer which still had her google searches from last night up which consisted of character names in Overwatch and Hatchetfield news around the time of the meteor crash.

“You may not want to search that kind of stuff without a proxy.” Emma jumped, finding Bill right behind her. “That’s the kind of stuff we’re supposed to watch out for. Come to think of it, you’re probably the IP they were looking at the last week.”

“Ah shit.” Emma breathed, “I didn’t mean to—“

“You’re just curious. My daughter Alice was researching all types of things in the beginning. Space stuff, cults, mind control, some things that I honestly don’t get. I think Deb got her into the mind control idea, but they definitely got a talking to from Colonel Schaffer.” He said.

Emma quickly shut her browser, dropping her head into a hand. She hasn’t blushed like this since high school. “Sorry.”

“It’s alright. You’re new here.”

At the end of the shift Emma was waiting outside for Colonel Schaffer to escort her home. She leaned against the building looking for a bike that she could get ordered to the island. It’s been a long time since she drove a vehicle of her own, Guatemala was a lot of backpacking and public transport as some places were off beaten tracks. There were some bikes sitting in her and Tim’s garage, but she didn’t want to remind Tim of his parent’s things. Perhaps the Colonel could get something here within the week.

The main doors opened and Paul walked out, feet faltering as he rounded towards Emma and dropping his keys, clearly not expecting someone to be out here. Emma snorted leaning down to toss them back to the other. He smiled, eyes open wide. “Sorry.”

“No problem. Didn’t mean to scare you.” She replied before tilting her head back. “Didn’t you leave early today?”

“Oh, I uh. Yeah.” He stuttered, laughing awkwardly. “Uh, surprise, the appointment was a few floors up. Who would have guessed, right?”

“Ha, well the military sure do know how to consolidate.” They shared another smile. “Thanks again for the coffee and the save earlier, I’d probably still be standing there.”

“Yeah, it’s okay, no worries. I’ve worked with them for years now. Those two are always at each other’s necks.”

“If it wasn’t work, I woulda shown them how we do it in Central America.” Emma joked.

“I don’t doubt it. Bet you throw a mean hook there.”

“That’s why I had to move here, my body count got too big.” She pointed with a smirk. 

His eyes twitched a bit at the statement. His face was really expressive, his dark eyebrows seemed to travel across his whole forehead, a bright smile to match his bright blue eyes, which still looked a bit too much uncanny to be natural. Maybe he wore some type of contacts. She wouldn’t have noticed the fault in his cheerful demeanor if she hadn’t found it hard to look away.

“Uh, sorry.” She said, bringing both hands up. “I promise I’m not a hit woman.”

Paul shook head, blinking a few times and coming back into the conversation. “No, no you’re alright. It’s okay.” He chuckled a bit, looking around at anywhere but Emma. “Okay, uh, sorry. I’m gonna, go then.” He pointed behind him. “Are you, uh, waiting for a ride?”

“Yeah, Colonel Schaffer has been ‘escorting’ me around.” She air quoted. “Probably to make sure I don’t run away.”

He laughed again, this time it sounded more genuine. “Yeah, that sounds like something that Colonel would do. She’ll probably pop out with Melissa soon.” Beat. “Do you uh, want someone to wait with you?”

Emma cocked her head to the side. “I mean you can, but you’ve already said peace.”

“Oh, yeah, I guess I did, be rude to lie.”

Emma snorted, what a reaction. Before she could get another word out, just like he predicted, Melissa and Colonel Schaffer stepped out of the office. They looked between themselves, to Emma and Paul and back to each other before laughing. Emma and Paul looked at each other quizzically. The two women didn’t say anything but Melissa put a quick peck on the Colonel’s cheek before saving to Paul and Emma.

“Goodnight. See you tomorrow. Get Emma home safe I need her, she’s a life saver!” She called, jogging towards her car.

Paul waved with looked more like a flinch. He turned to Emma, “looks like your in good hands. See you tomorrow.” He gave another thumbs up. Emma smirked and gave him two in return.

He left behind Melissa, who was waiting for him near the parking lot. Emma turned to the Colonel Schaffer, trying hard to hide her smirk. “So you’re the Christine that Melissa was talking about.”

The Colonel was trying hard to keep her face blank though Emma could see the smile in her eyes. “Affirmative. Let’s bring you home, Emma.”

“Sure thing Christy.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I’ve heard someone call Schaffer Christine, I think. I’m sorry if I grabbed that from someone else. Let me know if it was you and if you’d like me to change it. 
> 
> Enjoy


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The one department she hasn’t seen anyone enter or exit in the month or so working there was from the Research and Development department. Housed directly above the IT office, there was barely any people that she saw enter the floor besides Lieutenant Lee, but he did speak of another man up there. She said that according to Colonel Schaffer, Henry Hidgens predicted the meteor impact on Hatchetfield to the exact minute. 
> 
> Ted says he’s a fucking loon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just realized there are a lot of discrepancies with the road Emma lives on and the season it is. One day I’ll fix it but maybe that’s why the island’s so weird lol

Most people at the military office were nice to Emma. As the IT department slowly warmed up to her, the military had much less of a hang up with meeting new people. They almost welcomed the extra help around, Emma feeling much more like the military intern than just Melissa’s assistant. The one department she hasn’t seen anyone enter or exit in the month or so working there was from the Research and Development department. Housed directly above the IT office, there was barely any people that she saw enter the floor besides Lieutenant Lee, but he did speak of another man up there. Melissa said his name was Henry Hidgens, a long term Hatchetfield resident who used to teach at the community college before shit hit the fan. She said that according to Colonel Schaffer, Henry Hidgens predicted the meteor impact on Hatchetfield to the exact minute. 

Ted says he’s a fucking loon.

Whatever they did upstairs required a lot of reports that looked like random numbers fashioned together that could just be pi written out if Emma was asked about it. Usually there was at least two or three deliveries to the mailbox next to the office door labeled _Hatchetfield News Station_. Emma opened the newly made tray that was labeled as “Professor Hidgens” when he heard metal clatter inside the room in front of her. She stopped and looked towards the door. It looked dark inside, didn’t sound like anything was going on but before Emma made up her mind to run what the sound was, the door swung open quick right towards her. She hopped out of the way and bumped right into the chest of a tall man with grey hair. He didn’t only flicked his eyes down towards her, but Emma was busy looking at the shiny red liquid on his gloves that were held up around his shoulders.

“What the fuck.” She breathed.

The man looked to his hands and rested them at his sides. “Don’t worry young lady, this is not my blood.”

Emma gawked. “What the fuck? That doesn’t make me feel any better.”

“My apologies.” He quickly side stepped her, moving way faster than she would have expected from a man that looks to be hitting his 60’s. He strode to the drinking fountain across from the new station door and disposed of his gloves and washed his hands right there. He looked over his shoulder, almost surprised to see Emma still standing around. “Can I help you?”

“Uh, I was just dropping papers off for this Henry Hidgens.”

He acknowledged the statement with his index fingers raised. “Ah yes, my analyses.” He all but swiped the papers from Emma’s hands, eagerly taking in whatever information was on the pages. “These frequencies didn’t work either, incorrect again, Henry.” He muttered, his voice had a musical lilt to it, it reminded Emma of how bad actors talked when they were on stage.

Emma pursed her lips, fairly confused and looked back into the room he left from. The room was just as dim as the hallway, the windows on the far wall looked to be painted shut. Computers lined the adjacent walls, cords rolled up and placed neatly on their keyboards. Some desk were pushed towards the middle of the room making two long tables that had papers and science equipment strewn across them. Spiked foam that looked like sound proofing lined the walls. On the table to the left was a large blue or black box that was stacked on the table with cords hanging out of it, one cord Emma could tell led to the microphone that sat on the table pointing towards a small container.

“You wouldn’t believe how long I’ve waited for the end of the world.” She startled, finding Henry right next to her. He side stepped passed her and rounded the table with a flourish. “I theorized for years how the end of the world would happen and when it the time I theorized comes, here we still are.” He deflated, sounding sad that he didn’t die. “But now, all those theories I threw out after picking my conclusion poorly have come to fruition with this new evidence!”

“Uh, alright.” Emma said, pointing back behind her. “I’ll let you get—“

“Come and see, young lady, what is going to be the most important event in human history!” He bellowed, leading her by the shoulder as he continued to explain phenomenons beyond Emma’s comprehension. She knew the man was employed by the government, she presumed that meant she was safe with them, but as this scientist continued to talk about cosmic energies and terrors beyond their wildest compression, she wondered if that included a background check on all employed personnel. “—and this is what is the beginning of a new era, observe.”

He waved towards the microphone set up Emma spotted a few minutes ago. The box was actually a guitar amp, hooked up to the microphone and some switchboard that looked like the audio board used for concerts. Under the microphone was that small container, the ones that scientists use to grow germs, that held a light grey dust, crushed into various sizes. Henry flipped the amp on and turned some switches on the board. The sound that began playing made Emma cringe. The background sounded like static and rushing water coupled with what could be voices and tones playing on top of it without any tempo that she could discern. It seemed to short circuit her brain, blurring any complex thought that was going on beforehand but the professor directed her back to the table with a flourish of his hand. Emma squinted, staring hard in the dim light before she began watching only one of the weirdest things she’s ever seen.

The dust inside of the container began to move, slowly swirling around and up into the air. Emma thought for a second maybe it was the vibrations coming out the the amp, but her jaw dropped as she watched it begin to circle and form a dome around the container. The particles were fine and abundant enough to create a fog effect. Larger particles fought against gravity on the table but slowly shifted around the dish, gliding on the plastic. The largest piece, no bigger than a pebble, centered itself and turned slowly, smaller pieces made a ring around that and rotated clockwise, making a rocky crop circle design. Emma reached out and put her finger into the dust field, which she wouldn’t have tried if she was thinking straight, but it caused no adverse effects.

When the sounds were turned off, the dust slowed to a halt before falling down in it’s formed pattern. Emma gaped and looked over at the scientist who wore a broad grin. “Holy shit.”

“Holy shit, indeed.” He nodded solemnly as he swept the dust back into it’s dish.

“What is that?”

“This, young lady, is a part of the meteor that crashed down into Hatchetfield two years ago. I thought this meteor would bring about the end of the world, but sadly, I was wrong. Once the military entered and culled the debauchery that was created after impact. I went directly to General McNamera and told him about my theories and once it was safe to obtain pieces of the meteor I joined them in the pursuit of science to understand what properties that it could hold.” He said, rounding the table and waving towards the sound equipment. “Through extensive research I have found that by introducing chaotic frequencies to the meteor it moves in certain formations, almost as if it is alive!” He looked behind him and dashed towards a tray with some fabric pinned to it, holding it up in display. “And this was from the mall riots. While it does not show the same response as the meteor, when exposed to rhythmic meters, it’s fabric, that is made out of no licensed synthetics or elements known on this planet, changes it’s molecular properties into a flesh like substance.”

“That’s fucking gross.”

“You’re not wrong, young lady. But no matter how much I dissect it in fabric or flesh form, it always recreates itself if it hears the right tempos again.” The scientist looked at the tray with reverence, like a holy relic in front of the Pope. “Isn’t it fascinating?”

Emma only nodded, walking around to look at the fabric. It looked like normal fabric that would be used on a teddy bear but was a bright green, both neon and a darker tone with stuffing still sewn onto the fur. “You think these are what caused the rioting?”

“I don’t think, I know!” He said, pointing at his temple, a small bead of sweat dripping down his hair line. “But the government has run into unearthly items such as these, my job, young lady, is to find out for what reason they are trying to invite human interactions to them.”

Emma nodded again, tipping her head to the side as she looked at the papers around the table. Still nothing made sense but the experiments alone were enough to convince her something much worse was written under the redacted pages than she originally thought. The scientist still looked at her for a verbal response, before straightening up with a huff and looking down at his watch. He cleared his throat, “while I enjoyed this presentation, young lady, I must return to my research. As you have seen, these experiments only have shown me evidence that even the military can recreate, but hasn’t led to any discovery of communication or sentience beyond the two groups working together to change their respective properties.”

“Right, sorry. They’re probably wondering what’s taking me so long anyways.” Emma responded eventually, starting to back up towards the door.

“Before you leave, give me one response. A critique to respond to.” He said arms outstretched towards her.

Emma hummed, a critique. She never had a field of expertise and even if she did, science and other worldly physics would never have been a choice. She rocked from foot to foot as she thought of anything to say besides ‘cool bro’.

“I don’t know, have you tried specific music? Or putting the sounds your already using together?” She responded. 

“Together, you say...” He trailed, circling his tables. “I’ll take it to the critiques, young lady. Good day to you.”

Emma waved, backing out slowly. “Uh, you too.” She said as she shut the scientist back into his room. As the door clicked shut she could still hear him muttering to himself before making her leave towards the staircase.

She walked back into the IT office and looked at the clock. Emma was only gone for maybe thirty minutes, but it was enough that Melissa gave her a funny look as she sat back down at her desk. Ted peeked up above his divider, wiggling his eyebrows. “You off on a midday tindr break there, Perky?”

Emma rolled her eyes, the more Ted got used to her presence, the more he seemed to annoy her with new sentence out of his mouth. The others didn’t find it that funny either, but the whole office, included Emma let it slide as his more friendly moments seemed to make up for the bullshit he spout the other times.

“No, Ted. I ran into that scientist upstairs and he got caught up talking to me and showing me his lab.” She replied, opening up her laptop. The silent reply was odd, when she looked up she noticed everyone staring at her, even Melissa walked over to the desks to join in the look.

“Henry Hidgens? Grey hair, talks like a Shakespearean actor?” Melissa questioned.

Emma nodded, “yeah, definitely talked weird.”

“Are you okay?” Paul asked. Emma looked at him in confusion but was surprised how genuinely concerned he seemed to be. Behind him, she could see Bill giving the same worried eyes, dark forehead etched with deep wrinkles. 

“Uh, yeah. He wasn’t mean or anything. Weird as shit though.” She scoffed a bit. “He’s doing some crazy shit upstairs, but he was very polite, calling me young lady and stuff.”

Paul side-eyed Ted quickly who was now standing from his seat to be in the conversation. “I wouldn’t hang out with him up there. I know it’s military approved and all but he’s got something loose in his noodle.”

Emma looked back and forth between the others looking for them to break from this prank. Her smile eventually faded from her face. “I mean he’s doing research for the military, just like us.”

“Yeah, o-okay, that’s true.” Paul trailed, rubbing the back of his neck, “but, just be careful, trust us, we’ve known him for a while, before we all started working with the government, and he’s done some things t-that...” He looked back to Ted, who shrugged, shoving his hands in his pockets. “He’s pretty susceptible to falling in with other weird people. We’re just looking out for you, Emma. Okay?”

He was doing his tick thing, Emma knew that meant he was being genuine. Paul had a hard time not stuttering when he really meant what he was saying. It must have been an anxiety tick, like him saying okay all the time to fill whatever else he didn’t know how to say. She looked from Paul to Melissa behind her, who looked just as serious as the boys and nodded looking back the guys way. “Alright, okay. I’ll watch it. I mean it’s been a whole month before ever meeting him, it shouldn’t be that hard, right?”

The others smiled, looking relieved. Emma leaned back into her chair and looked back towards her computer. There’s a lot of things that aren’t being said between whatever the scientist was saying about ‘culling’ and the cause of the riots. The way he said it was like there were exterior reasons besides fragile psyches that caused all this tragedy that the island has gone through. And judging from the tech teams response, his weird theories brought a lot of trouble around him. Even Tim didn’t seem as freaked out about everything that was going on compared to her coworkers responses. But maybe that’s because he’s already desensitized by his parents dying. She’s only made acquaintances with the team within the last few weeks, but they’re protective enough to warn her towards other residents. It was like a weird turf war, no wonder others barely walked outside their garages.

She tried to concentrate back to her computer, but noticed Paul still staring at her from his desk, brows still furrowed and lips pursed. Emma gave him a small smile to try to make him feel better, apparently very afraid of the scientist upstairs. His electric blue eyes opened wide as he realized that he was staring at her. Paul turned red and apologized, ducking back down into his own screen. Emma snorted.

Tim arrived home the same time Emma was riding into the garage. The bike she got the Colonel to mail to the island wasn’t exactly what she ordered, but this one was electric and was nice as the the temperatures changed drastically from day to day depending on the Lake. Emma watched as Tim hopped off the bus and another young girl jumped off behind him. She arched her brow, usually he was the only one at this stop.

They walked up and stopped in front of Emma. Tim waved. “Hi.”

“Hey.”

“This is Hannah. She’s in my grade and we like to play Minecraft at school. We’re gonna make a world on my console so we can save things.” Tim said, waving towards Hannah.

She looked small compared to Tim, wore some braided pigtails and a Hatchetfield Nighthawks Hat. Hannah’s clothes were a bit big on her, but she didn’t seem super concerned. In fact, she looked at Emma with intense eyes, like she’s trying to remember something and gave a big smile. “Hi, Emma.”

“Hi Hannah, it’s nice to meet you.”

“Nice to finally meet.” She said, her voice light. Emma cocked her head at the phrasing.

“Hannah and I will do some homework first but then we call dibs on the TV if that’s alright.” Tim piped in.

Emma nodded, it was a good compromise. “Okay, I’ll be in charge of dinner. How does burgers sound?”

Tim looked to Hannah to respond first, giving the guest the choice of meal. Hannah nodded, almost bouncing on her feet. Tim shrugged “Looks like it sounds good.”

She held the door open and Tim ran inside as Hannah quietly walked up the steps before stopping to look up at Emma. “Glad you made it.” Hannah smiled, patting her forearm with her clothed-pawed hand. Emma tried to give her a good smile that didn’t look as uncomfortable as she felt. Hannah seemed nice, but her phrasing definitely sounded more like someone that was trying to tell her something more. Hannah didn’t seem to mind if Emma was rude and hopped to follow Tim who was dumping the contents of his backpack onto the table.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you like it, hope everyone is doing well. Stay safe, stay present, stay informed, and vote.  
> Black Lives Matter.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> That day was an uncommonly quiet one. All the military had a meeting with their Washington DC headquarters and haven’t bothered Melissa or Emma since 9am. Between her and Melissa, everything was already done too, schedules updated and reports stacked and collated for the next two days. The boys were barely fighting. It was a odd day of calm. So of course the humming of electrics emitting from the ceiling has come to put their day into question.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HEY THIS IS AN ADDED CHAPTER THAT IS SQUEEZED IN THE MIDDLE OF OTHER CHAPTERS, IF YOU’RE READING THIS, THE PRIOR CHAPTER 8 WILL NOW BE CHAPTER 9.

She was beginning to wonder how anything got done in Hatchetfield. Between the military departments seeming to all be working on different things to her being sent on more and more convoluted hunts to deliver messages, she was wondering if she was being pranked. And that’s just the different departments. She barely knew what they did in her own office. Watching over Paul’s shoulder doesn’t give her any hints, and from the sounds of Ted’s complaining, he gets paid to bullshit everyday. The arguments are usually pointless but can take up hours of the day, especially when Paul’s not that to buffer some sort of compromise between the two men. 

Emma doesn’t help either, she’ll egg Ted on for fun sometimes. The mustache makes his anger look way more funny that any normal person would look. She didn’t like messing with Bill though, he was too sweet. Always gushing about his daughter and worried about his daughter’s girlfriend effect on his daughter. Sometimes he’d bring pictures from baby books because he’s that kind of dad. The love of a father was unending with him.

That day was an uncommonly quiet one. All the military had a meeting with their Washington DC headquarters and haven’t bothered Melissa or Emma since 9am. Between her and Melissa, everything was already done too, schedules updated and reports stacked and collated for the next two days. The boys were barely fighting. It was a odd day of calm. So of course the humming of electrics emitting from the ceiling has come to put their day into question.

Bill heard it first, looking up and around. “Hey Paul, do you hear that humming?”

Paul shrugged, furrowing his brow. “Not really.”

“No, I hear it.” Ted called as he walked around the desk. He wandered a few steps around the office, back and forth before stopping by Bill. “It’s around you. The sound. It’s like a buzzing.”

Emma was both bored and intrigued enough to get up and try to hear too. It was subtle. Not shrill or droning, but a buzz, just like Ted said. “Do you think it’s something lose up there?” She said, pointing up.

Now all four of them stood staring up at the ceiling. 

Bill shook his head. “It would change sounds, if it was something loose, it’d change sounds when it would move around.”

Melissa joined the group, pointing up with a questioning look. Everyone nodded.

“Fan?” Emma asked.

Another shake. “The conditioner is near the main hallway.”

Melissa laughed as the buzzing got louder. “I think it heard you.” Paul shot her a look of disapproval.

She was about to give another theory before an ear splitting roar ripped through the office. They all flinched covering their ears as their eardrums rumbled with the low buzz of the sound. Then another, higher pitch played, a swinging tone that danced on different notes. The rumbling became thunderous as heavy beats shook Emma’s rib cage like blasts of dynamite. She never understood when people couldn’t think with other noise going on like a TV or others talking, but this made her understand. Her brain was too busy bouncing against her skull to form a logical thought. Flashing commands would start and then be interrupted by another blast of discordant notes.

Notes. They were notes. It was a song. Maybe? What did that scientists song sound like?

Click, the amps, the soundproofing. The audio set up. God and she told him to put the two fucking noises together.

She looked around to the others, who were practically on their knees, trying to block out the sound. Emma waited to lose her main hearing, like you would at a rock concert and tried to yell over the noise.

“It’s that Hidgens!” She yelled, barely able to hear herself. The others barely registered her. Emma knelt down next to Melissa, touching her elbow trying to get her attention. When she looked up at her, Emma almost fell onto the ground. Melissa’s eyes were wild, panicked and racing around their sockets, desperately looking for something. Tears were running down her face, inked from her dark eyeliner. Emma leaned in closer, she could feel her gasping for air. “Melissa? Melissa, what’s wrong?”

“Stop that sound!” Emma did fall back that time as the roar of not only Melissa’s voice, but the men beside her as well roared above the noise. They yelled in unison, squeezing hard at their ears. If she had control over her pulse instead of the racket above, it would have started to speed up just then. They could barely keep their eyes open anymore. Melissa was pressing her head into Emma’s shoulder. 

“He’ll turn it down, he has to know it’s too loud!” Emma shouted back close to Melissa’s ear.

Almost all at once, they were yelling too, adding to the sound. But they weren’t trying to say anything, it was all different voices fighting for dominance, to be the loudest. In hopes that they can drown out the music from above. Emma was to get breathless to. Melissa was trying to bury herself into Emma shoulder.

“They can’t hear it! Don’t let them hear it!” It was barely coherent but understandable as they chanted it together. The sound persisted more than their yelling could, they were pale, gasping, a dazed look in their eyes as they still tried their hardest to block out the noise.

“Alright! Okay. I’ll go stop it!” She shouted, pulling Melissa up off her. “It’s gonna be alright. I’ll go stop it.” She said, trying to look her boss in the eyes but it was unreciprocated. Gently, she let Melissa’s head rest against the floor before jumping up and bolting for the stairs.

Each step it became louder and louder. By the time she wrenched they door to the fourth floor open, she swore the sound was trying to barricade the doors. The windows in the main hallway shook so much that they looked like cooked noodles dancing. Every step felt unsteady as both her and the ground shook at different tempos. She hoped she could make it before her heart or lungs burst from the frequency.

The door to the research lab was wide open and jumping off it’s hinges. Emma barged in without any courtesy and saw Hidgens standing above the same dust and fabric as before that was now floating in the air. They were on top of one another and almost glowing an odd red and purple. There were way more amps than last time she was in there a few weeks ago. It was lining the wall, cords reaching everywhere. Some even led up and into the ceiling. All the cords led to two different audio boards and a power strip that looked almost illegal to even make.

Emma rushed and started yanking at the power strip cord. Incrementally things began to lower, she swiped at the audio board like she would during theatre rehearsal to make the techs angry and eventually, it was quiet. In the absence of sound, silence was almost painful. The ringing in her ears was louder than the confused footsteps of the scientist behind her, as he looked around trying to figure out what went wrong. He spotted her and ripped off his headphones. “Young lady, what have you done? I was getting somewhere!”

“Hidgens!” Emma was screaming but she didn’t know it. “You can’t do that! That’s what too fucking loud, what the hell is wrong with you? Melissa’s ears are practically bleeding downstairs!”

He looked aghast. “Science takes sacrifices! I took your advice and put the sounds together!” He said, rounding the table like it was a normal brief meeting for him. “The spores, the material, it reacted! It almost became like a single entity, flesh and mind put together! I could almost communicate it! But it didn’t do enough, so I upped the ante! That’s how it goes right? And something was happening until you ruined the experiment!”

“Listen you fucking coot! You share this fucking building and you are giving everyone else in this building a heart attack doing that shit! Was this even approved?”

“Of course not! They would never let me!”

“And why the fuck not!? I couldn’t imagine why they wouldn’t let your crazy ass make everyone deaf. I can’t fucking believe!” Emma was seething now, the silence sounded like the screaming of her coworkers downstairs. Her body vibrated more than the speakers could ever make her. “You better get them to buy you some better sound proofing or find another goddamn building.”

“But, young lady, this new station has the perfect location! The radio tower above can amplify—“

“I’ll amplify you’re fucking ass if you do that without approval! You won’t be able to amplify anything with the radio tower up your fucking asshole! Don’t you fucking do that again without approval. You fucking got that!?” Her breathing was ragged, between the screaming and and rage, she could barely control the stream of words coming out of her mouth. The man in front of her, hair sticking up wildly from the headphones and what looked like a glow on his face flashed a look of concern. A hint of fear maybe? “I’ll run these cords through from your mouth to your ass, and I can do it to! If I can get choke a drunk guy with a shot glass I can certainly take your scrawny ass, you fucking got that!?”

The whites of his eyes got bigger. There was the fear. Emma wasn’t good on most emotions, but she was good at being terrifying. A finger was hovering right near his Adam’s apple. If she jabbed it hard enough, she would probably get her point across, but she would also lose her job. Instead, she dropped both hands to her side and looked down around the ground before yanking two or three cords out of whatever they were connected two. Different sizes, different lengths, it didn’t matter. She took them in hand and waved them in front of his face before taking them with her out the door, glaring at him until she lost sight. Emma decided she would braid the cords to be ready to attack him with next time.

An extra few seconds were taken in the main hallway of the third floor to cool down before she went back into her office. The hearing was still shoddy at best and she didn’t want to continue to yell and look like she was as livid as she actually was. Slow breathes released as she opened into the office.

The four others were sitting not he floor, still looking as dazed as when they were screaming. They stared at each other with looks of dread. Frazzled and almost startled when Emma walked into the office. She approached them slowly, trying not to yell. “I handled it.”

They nodded, but didn’t say anything. Melissa wiped at the makeup that was smearing down her cheeks. Emma took a seat next to her and handed her some tissue she grabbed from her desk. Melissa smiled sadly.

“W-was it Hidgens?” Paul said, his voice raw, scratchy.

Emma nodded. “Yeah, he was experimenting.”

“That fucking loon.” Ted almost growled. Bill bumped shoulders with him, grabbing his attention. Ted huffed, looking away.

“I made sure he wouldn’t do it again.” Emma said, holding up the cords in front of her face. The look of disbelief on the others faces’ almost made her feel like she was holding a first place trophy. Bill’s lips turned upwards ever so slightly. A prize won out of anger but a badge of compassion. “I told him I’d run these through his insides and out his ass if he did it again. I’m thinking of braiding them.”

Ted barked out a laugh. Startling even himself. “Perky, you’re fucking hard.”

Shoulders began to relax, tension was breaking as they laughed about all the grotesque things Emma was going to do to Hidgens. Melissa sat close to her, finding comfort in the touch as they continued their sit down conversation. As the boys broke off into their own bickers, she rested her head on Emma’s shoulder. “Thank you for getting that stopped. I’m sorry I cried on you.”

Emma smiled. “It’s okay. Sorry I wasn’t Schaffer for you to cry on.” Melissa blushed, turning further into her shoulder. “I’ll handle him from now on, I think. But you should get Schaffer to do something about his unlicensed experiments.”

Melissa smiled, nodding. “No unauthorized experiments.”

“No unauthorized experiments.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry that I’m getting confusing with the chapters. Hopefully that’s the only one that I’ll add into the middle of what’s already on here. Hope you liked. Emma’s foul mouth is my mood.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emma came back to her desk to find a small coffee setting by the monitor, the same for everyone else. It had been an ongoing dispute, as she refused to tell him what type of coffee she liked and made him guess every day. Paul didn’t mind, he seemed to like trying to figure out the mystery as she rebuffed every sweet, vanilla, fruity drink he’s left on her desk, but so far she’s not leaked a single hint at what she would actually like.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did I mention I don’t edit these? Because any discrepancies is that fault but hopefully they are plot breaking.

Emma came back to her desk to find a small coffee setting by the monitor, the same for everyone else. Paul was the only other one in the office, working through his lunch to ensure IP reports were finished before the end of the day. It has become a midday ritual for Paul, usually take a break, and bring back coffee for the office. Even when he missed his breaks he still made 15 minutes to disappear to wherever he found an espresso machine to grab everyone their favorites, and a new random flavor for Emma. It had been an ongoing dispute, as she refused to tell him what type of coffee she liked and made him guess every day. Paul didn’t mind, he seemed to like trying to figure out the mystery as she rebuffed every sweet, vanilla, fruity drink he’s left on her desk, but so far she’s not leaked a single hint at what she would actually like.

He looked over at her with a smirk as she picked up the cup and took a sip. It was bitter, no sugar but it wasn’t straight black. Popping the lid open she looked into a almost chocolate looking liquid. “What’s this one called?”

“Normal black coffee with one half and half.” He said, leaning back and folding his hands into his lap. “I figured I needed to make a drastic play and watch for a hint.”

“Not bad.”

“Not bad, okay.” He grinned, brows furrowed. “Okay, that’s all I get?”

“I mean you almost had it there.” Emma said going for another sip.

Paul’s eyes widened. “Okay, almost got it. I didn’t think you’d be a bland coffee drinker, Emma.” 

“Y’know what they say about assumptions, Paul.” She chided, pointing over to him, “it’ll make an asshole out of both of us. But if you kept getting what you just got, I’ll call it close enough to right for you to take the win.”

He laughed, tucking his bottom lip between his teeth. Emma downed the coffee like a shot before opening her computer up. Before lunch, Melissa was called for a briefing with Lieutenant Lee to keep updated on what they were watching out for. The monthly meeting usually took a few hours and Emma wasn’t expecting her to be back for the rest of the shift, as she usually gets caught up with the Colonel if she stayed downstairs for too long. So Emma watched her emails and maintained the schedule.

The two others streamed in roughly ten minutes later, arguing about the usefulness of learning self defense. It stemmed from a conversation before lunch, where Bill mentioned his daughter, Alice taking some martial arts courses with her girlfriend and earned a scoff from Ted.

“I never said I was learning it Ted. I’m just driving them home after the lessons because it’s held at the school. But I do think it’s a good idea, it’s a dangerous world for girls now-a-days.” Bill sounded exasperated, like he usually does when debating with Ted.

“Maybe that’ll get them away from a mugging but that isn’t going to stop an army or a riot. You gotta think something more specific. We’re American’s for god’s sake, get her a gun.” Ted shrugged, waving his hand in the arm nonchalantly. Emma could hear Paul let out a long sigh and tried to hide the laugh with a cough. Ted gave her a look. “What, ya think some fist of fury shit is going to stop the shit in this world? I’ve seen things, Perky. You there’s only so much you can save by running around fists flying.”

“It’s just a last resort kind of thing Ted, more of a confidence booster.” Paul said, trying to end the argument. 

“Oh I’ve seen last resort. Don’t play it like you don’t know what happens at last resort. Nothing but a gun is going to save you or the ones you love.” Emma watched as Ted jabbed a finger towards Paul, his fist clenched tight. “If we’d had a gun earlier there wouldn’t have been a last resort—“

“Okay, okay, Ted.” Paul held his hands up in defeat, before running them both through his hair. “I get it. it’s alright, okay?” His look was a lot softer and less sarcastic than earlier, eyes bright but pleading for them to drop it. Emma watched as the conversation sputtered out. Ted sat down with a huff, arms thumping onto the desk. She looked over to the other two as Bill shared gave a silent apology to Paul who shrugged back. Neither looked over to the woman as she sat biting on her lip in concern. Ted’s had outbursts before, hell he usually had one at least once a week, but whatever he was talking about sounded much more personal than their usual disputes. Obviously they were still on Hatchetfield, which meant they were here during all the chaos of the past two years, Emma could only wonder what they had to go through, to push into the back of their minds to continue to work like normal adults. Whatever memory was brought out of them was obviously painful. Just in the silence, she could tell that something aged them beyond their years.

Emma turned back to her computer clicking on a few things before the lights above her started to flicker. Looking up, the fluorescents blinked a few times before going out. Ted muttered from the other side of the divider, “oh what fucking now?”

The battery on her computer was in use, indicating to her the power cord wasn’t working. She looked under her desk and saw it still plugged in. “Power out?” She asked aloud as she heard the others get up out of their seats. Popping back up she saw them all standing ramrod straight, incredibly still. She stood up too in solidarity. “Can’t believe the military doesn’t pay utilities.” She laughed to no response, the others rushed into action, moving to look outside and checking the doors. Bill looked out into the streets as Ted tried his hardest to move a desk in front of the main entrance. Emma watched Paul for a clue what was going on, but he just spun in a circle at his desk, turned to her and dropped both hands on her shoulders.

“We gotta move, Emma.” He said gravely.

“Uh, what?”

“I’ll explain later, you’ll have to just trust—“

The left most exit door near Melissa’s desk flung open. The men flinched, crouching down to the floor. Paul tugged Emma to follow but she only leaned forward to watch who came through the door. Both the Colonel and Melissa came jogging into the office, looking around before spotting Emma. 

“Guys, it’s Melissa and Schaffer. The floors clear.” Melissa called out of breath as Schaffer was listening to something over a communicator. Melissa leaned in trying to listen. “It’s Hidgens upstairs, he blew the fuses with an experiment. Everything’s good.”

“Oh c’mon. Why can’t we get that fuckin’ loon out of here. He’s gonna give me a goddamn heart attack.” Ted yelled, slapping his hands to his legs. Emma looked down to Paul was staring straight ahead on the ground, eyes almost glowing in the darkness of the office. Bill let out a loud huff near the windows that brought her attention away from the man on the floor. Bill wiped his brow as he came back towards the main workspace.  
“Did he take out the blocks power? Everything’s off.”

“Negative, it looks like he took out the whole island, actually. He’d been siphoning huge amounts of power for the last few days, it was only a matter of time.” The Colonel concluded, snapping the radio back onto her belt.

“I can’t believe you guys still let that nut job do whatever he wants upstairs.” Ted grumbled.

“He’s gotten further with Xander than anyone else in the nation.” Colonel reminded. “Give me a few minutes to see the next objective.” She said, walking back out the exit she came. 

Melissa came over to Emma and took her hand. She’s learned in time that her boss was a very physical person. “Are you alright?”

“Yeah, it’s no big deal. Sometimes I didn’t even have power down in Guatemala.” Emma waved her off. Melissa looked relieved but frowned as she looked down towards Paul, who was still kneeling on the floor. Emma studied her boss’ reaction, it didn’t seem alarmed and panicked but much sadder than she looked when she first ran into the office. Emma turned back towards Paul, he barely has seemed to breath since the last time she looked at him, as she knelt down she could see sweat beading on his forehead. “Uh, Paul?”

He didn’t move but his eyes trained over to her, wide and shaking; actually his whole body was shaking, palms flat against the ground. Paul was already a pale looking dude, but he had gotten whiter than his shirt. Emma mind had a lightbulb moment, as she realized what was going on. A panic attack.

“Hey, Paul? The Colonel said everything’s good.” She said lightly, kneeling fully down next to him. His eyes continued to pierce into her without any acknowledgement. Emma’s had her share of anxiety attacks which she usually just rode through, she never had to coach someone else out of one before. She knocked her hands together a few times as she racked her brain for something to do or say.

“The Colonel said she was expecting this to happen any day now since Hidgens was staring whatever upstairs. Can you nod that you can hear me?” There was a sharp inhale as he gave the slightest nod. Emma nodded with him, “good, okay. Here, uh, drink this.” She pushed the coffee that sat on his desk towards one of his hands and watched as he slowly took held it in his shaking hands. “It’s just another day with the military, right?” Emma smiled, though she felt her joke didn’t hit the way she wanted it to.

“Okay.” It was strained, but better than nothing. She sat back on her haunches feeling a bit accomplished as he took a few sips out of the cup. Bill and Ted had finished moving the desks back away from the entrance and Bill took a seat next to Paul, gently placing a hand on his back and whispered something into his ear. The tension gradually fell from Paul’s shoulders. 

Emma felt a little stupid. Of course, give some physical reassurance, it makes sense. She usually wasn’t around people when she panicked, if she was she would leave to be by herself as fast as possible and tried to focus on a single thing, which is why she gave him the coffee. Most often she would focus on the feeling of her clenching and unclenching her hands. Jane was the same way, whenever she panicked about a poor grade or the stress of being in four extracurriculars, if Emma could get her to focus towards reading aloud her favorite poems from a Ralph Waldo Emerson book or get water in her hands, it would significantly decrease the amount of time sitting in the fetal position on their bedroom floor.

“Okay.” Paul took a much larger breath than before, exhaling slowly out his nose. “Okay.” He nodded towards Bill who took his hand back into his lap. He looked towards Emma next with a tight smile. “Okay, thanks.” Emma nodded as well, giving a similar smile back. Everyone stood up and fell back into their desk chairs, Ted and Melissa sharing looks as they stood around them. Another silence fell among the crew as everyone tried to look at anything but another persons’ eyes.

They were saved as Colonel Schaffer came back into the office. “The power is in fact out across the whole island. We need some assistance turning things back on.”

Ted raised both hands up, “I’m out, I can barely do the IT stuff, my accounting degree won’t be any help in electrics.”

The others looked at each other, Melissa and Emma both shrugged.

Paul looked over to Bill who sighed. “I used to work with electrics when I was younger but my certificate is probably expired.” 

“That’ll be enough. Lieutenant Lee may just need some assistance, if that’s alright with you. The school is cutting out early today as well. The buses are So some of you may want to head over to pick your wards.”

Emma blinked before realizing that she herself, had a ward. ‘Oh, shit. I gotta go get Tim then.”

“Alice is there too.” Bill trailed turning towards Paul. “Would you mind picking her up? Since they want some help here.” He asked quietly before added. “You know how I feel about the high school.”

Paul nodded, setting the cup behind him. “Yeah, okay.”

“Alright, go about it, we should be reconnected by tomorrow. Come in as normal unless notified otherwise.” The Colonel said. “Bill, I will meet you downstairs in five minutes.”

Emma turned and began to pack her laptop, before realizing that no power meant it wouldn’t be working for long after getting home. She placed it back onto the desk.

Melissa leaned against the dividers with a huff, resting her chin down onto her folded arms. “Well, guess that’s it for the day guys.” She rolled her eyes, pushing up and heading towards her desk collecting her things. Ted was already heading for the door, grumbling to himself as he swung the door open. Emma was next to leave, walking down to the street and looking at her bike.

“Fuck.”

“You want a ride?” Paul walked up next to her, pulling his keys out of his suit jacket.

“I gotta go to the high school and pick up my, uh, Tim.” Nice job.

He nodded. “I told Bill I’d pick up his Alice.”

“If we’re heading to the same place.” Emma trailed, giving him a smile. “Also, I just realized I don’t remember where the high school is anymore.” She followed him back to his car, a small grey Civic. She fell into the passenger seat. “Thanks for giving me a ride.”

“No problem.” He said, turning the ignition on and sitting all the way back in his seat, pausing for a moment. “T-thanks for trying to help, for, y’know.”

“Yeah.” The radio became clearer as they settled into silence. It sounded like an audiobook or something. The narrator was British with a smooth, deep voice. The man went into a conversation and started to say words that didn’t sound like words. Emma scrunched her face. “What are you listening to?”

“O-oh, yeah. It’s uh, y’know the Harry Potter books, right?” He said, blushing a bit as he slowed to a stoplight.

“Yeah, I read them when I was younger.”

“Well I guess I missed them all those years ago. Alice told me I had to read them myself or she’s gonna read them to me.”

Emma snorted. “I mean, you are missing out. They’re pretty much classics now. Alice is a smart one to get you into them.”

“Yeah, she’s a good kid.”

“So you’re pretty close with Bill and Alice.”

“Yeah. Bill and I go way back. He made me her Godfather, though I still don’t know why. Way back during the economic crisis, him and his ex-wife helped me out a lot. I was just out of college and jobs weren’t moving that well... Anyways, we went to college together and when Alice was born I was like a live in babysitter til I found my own.”

“That’s nice of them.”

“Yeah, Bill’s stuck out for me a lot. How about you? You don’t call Tim your son.”

Emma looked down into her lap. “Yeah, he’s not my kid. He’s my nephew. My sister, died a few years back.”

“Oh, Emma. I’m sorry.” Paul said quietly. “Was it in the invasion?”

Emma cocked her head toward him. “Invasion?”

“The meteor?”

“Oh, that. No. She died the Christmas prior to the meteor crashing. Just a normal car crash, but then his dad died in that Lakeside Fire, so they recruited me for guardianship.” She picked underneath her fingernails. “I only met Tim when I got here, I wasn’t close to them before they died. Tim and I are still working on it too. I’m trying to give him space, I think. I know everything’s been weird and all, I thought maybe just some normalcy would be nice for a bit before getting down to the grind.”

“It’s not Hatchetfield if it normal.” He shrugged.

“Not when I was younger. Before I left it was a normal, like a normal shit town that had cliques and was a tourist town. Coming back was like walking onto a movie set. It’s a replica but too uncanny to be the same thing.”

“Hatchetfield’s not that bad. I mean, it’s not the same anymore. Not after the—“  
“Wait you said invasion earlier. What do you mean by that? I was told it was a bout of mass hysteria.” Emma interjected. She could see him gulp as he turned into a suburban area closer to the coast.

“Y-you heard what?”

“Schaffer gave me some papers that were mainly blacked out, but it said that there was mass hysteria and people fighting each other due to paranoia. At least that’s what I got.” 

Paul pursed his lips. “H-hysteria.” He stuttered, pulling off to the side of the road. He parked the car and pinched the bridge of his nose. “It was not— I can’t believe that’s—“ His brain was working hard to make a coherent thought. He breathed deeply. “That’s not what happened.” His voice was taut, angry in a way she’s not heard from him before.

“I-I didn’t. Sorry. That’s just what the government printed out when I got here.”

“Well it’s wrong. They’re hiding everything that-that actually happened because they still can’t explain it.” He said through gritted teeth. “They can barely grasp what went on at the mall and they had that contained. It’s-it’s fucking disrespectful. Do you know how many died during that ‘mass hysteria’?”

Emma shook her head. “It didn’t say anyone died, that some went to a psychiatric facility when they didn’t snap out of it.”

Paul let out a laugh that sounded like a bark. “I can’t believe.” He took another deep breath, trying to calm himself he took another few seconds before continuing. “No one was sent off the island. The ones that weren’t cured died because they couldn’t take not living with the hive.”

“I’m sorry, Paul. But you’ve completely lost me.” She said, hands raised. Paul looked over to her, still seething underneath his calmed voice but the anger released as he caught the genuine confusion on Emma’s face. He sagged into his seat.

“S-sorry.” He said quietly. “I don’t. We don’t. Okay. Here, i-in Hatchetfield. We don’t really talk about what went on. I-I got caught in the thought of it.”

“It’s alright. I’ve known since I’ve gotten here that something was weird.”

“It’s still not fair for them to lie to you.”

“That’s true. But they said it was a matter of national safety.”

“I frankly don’t care. You want to know? I’ll tell you what happened.” There was determination, the look that someone that knows they’re breaking the rules but is going to do it anyway. The look of someone that can’t be backed out of being a martyr.

“Yeah, I’d like to know what’s goin on.” Emma nodded, watching as the fire ignited behind his eyes again. She looked out into the neighborhood they stopped in, even though the power cut and kids were being sent home, they were still the only ones on the road. Parked in the running car. “But we got to get Tim and Alice still. They’re waiting at the school.”

“Oh, god, yeah, okay.” He said, loking back to the steering wheel.

“But we’ll have this conversation.” She promised. “Just not now. But we will.”

He nodded again. “Okay.” He shifted back into drive. “Okay.”

Emma tried to hide her smile as he got the car moving again, almost wrenching it back into the main lane. He relaxed the longer he moved, maybe the idea of talking through what happened seemed to bring him a sense of peace. From his reaction alone, she couldn’t imagine with all that happened and no one willing to talk about it what could have built up inside of someone. The power out alone gave only a glimpse of what sort of catastrophe they encountered. It only hit her now that Ted barricading the door without any other directions was not a general reaction to a power out.

They weren’t too far from the high school after their short break. Now that looked familiar to Emma, the grey walls and shitty sign looked completely the same. Outside there were students and adults, dressed casually and military alike waiting in the tennis courts. Emma recognized a few of the babysitters that Tim had, Grace Chastity and Deb Trent, on opposite sides. Tim was sitting near the front fence with Hannah next to him. Hannah, who had been over a few more times so they could build their Minecraft world together, had spotted Emma before her nephew did. Emma waved back at her.

Paul pulled up to the pick up area, where a teenage girl in a large jean jacket leaned into the drivers window. “You here for Alice?”

“And Tim Houston.” Emma called out. She checked his clipboard and radioed over. Emma watched as Alice gave her radio over to Deb and placed a quick kiss to her cheek before calling Tim over. He waved goodbye to Hannah and they jogged to the car.

The girl snapped his fingers. “That’s the Tim Banana’s been talking about.” She said then turned back into the car and pointed towards Emma. “Which makes you Emma Perkins.”

“Uh. Yeah.” She said sounding a bit concerned.

“I’m Hannah’s guardian. She doesn’t make a lot of friends so it’s nice to hear her talk about the ones she does have. I’m Lex Foster, her older sister.” They waved at each other as Alice and Tim got to the car. Tim hesitated as Alice pulled the door open, “hi uncle Paul.”

“Uncle Paul, cute.” Emma muttered. Paul rolled his eyes as Emma leaned over to talk to Tim. “Tim get in I got a ride. I didn’t think you’d want to ride the bike spokes back.”

“Sure.”

They piled in the back and started drive out of the parking lot. Emma directed them back towards her and Tim’s house. Once they made it to their street, Alice pointed across the main road. “Hey you live by us. My house is right there.”

Alice pointed towards the house directly across, the one that she saw the first day have life in it. She wanted to smack herself as she realized he was in the same car she saw pull in late her first night. Paul must still be living over there.

“Thanks again for the ride.” Emma said.

“Thank you.” Tim called from the back.

Paul nodded. “No worries.” The doors unlocked as he parked. “Ah, your bike is still at the office. Uh, d-do you want a ride tomorrow morning?”

“That’d be nice after you stranded me.” She teased.

“Fine, I’ll let you call Ted for a ride.”

Emma balked. “No, sorry. Please don’t put me in a car with Ted. I wouldn’t make it to the office.” 

Paul smiled. “Don’t worry, we’ll kick his ass if he’s mean. But I’ll come by in the morning. I’ll, uh. I’ll need your number though, t-to let you know when I’m coming.”

“Right.” She said, raising her eyebrows at him before putting his number in her phone to text her contact to him. “It was nice to meet you Alice.”

“Nice to meet you too.”

Emma and Tim climbed up the driveway and opened the garage as Paul drove across the street into his and Alice’s house. Paul waved from across the street and got an elbow from his goddaughter.

They walked in and dropped their stuff onto the dining table. Tim set his backpack down lightly and thumbed at the zipper. He looked over to Emma, chewing on his bottom lip, contemplating if he wanted to speak. She raised her eyebrows and gave him a nod, letting him decide. He huffed. “Can I tell you something, Emma?” She hummed in agreement. “Hannah, earlier. She, uh, this morning during study period. She said we’d get to leave school early. She said he friend told her the power would get messed up.”

Emma pursed her lips. “What friend told her that.”

“Well Hannah has this imaginary friend still. The other kids think it’s weird but I still think she’s cool so I don’t care. But it was her imaginary friend that said there would be some sort of energy disturbance.” Tim said in a matter-of-fact way. “And the friend was right, so, I dunno.”

“That’s a superpower alright.” Emma agreed, dropping her bag at the table. “The island must be full of superheroes, isn’t it.”

“That sounds like something mom would have said.” He smiled softly before looking away. Emma thought about saying something about Jane. Maybe corroborating how wistful she was, but instead she just smiled. Tim gave a thin smile before taking his homework and heading for his room.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emma was still sitting on the couch in the dark when the lights came back on. Once they got home Tim didn’t wait long to get upstairs to do his homework before a sandwich dinner and his call for an early bedtime, since it was too dark without lights. It’s been a slow process, they’ve lived together for a few months now, but the cordial, almost professional functioning that they had was coming undone. Homework wasn’t done at the dining table, he moved his console upstairs at some point during the first month to ‘get a better signal’. Dinner was short, quiet. They were roommates, not family members.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If anyone’s following along, I did go back and edit a lot of stuff with Tim to make them less friendly up front and make it much more awkward and distant so this chapter could make more sense. It would make both of them grow and be less static across the whole of this story.  
> And if that didn’t work, this chapter will be very random and out of the blue to you readers, lol.

The power was restored sometime early the next morning. Emma was still sitting on the couch in the dark when the lights came back on. Once they got home Tim didn’t wait long to get upstairs to do his homework before a sandwich dinner and his call for an early bedtime, since it was too dark without lights. It’s been a slow process, they’ve lived together for a few months now, but the cordial, almost professional functioning that they had was coming undone. Homework wasn’t done at the dining table, he moved his console upstairs at some point during the first month to ‘get a better signal’. Dinner was short, quiet. They were roommates, not family members. 

Emma watched him head upstairs and chewed on her lip, thinking of the way Paul became so flustered trying to say how wrong the reports were. The mix of emotions that passed his face as the memory flashed inside him mind. An adult could barely tamp it down within him when faced with reminders of the trauma, let alone a 13 year old. She wondered how many of those dreams he said he had were nightmares. Or conversations to his parents were about them coming back to him.

The time she’s spent at the house with him was mainly filled with superficial conversation. Homework, hobbies, food and video games. She didn’t want to push him into a corner about what had happened in the week prior to her coming, let alone bring up something as far back as Jane’s death. She wanted him to come to her with it by himself, because that’s how she worked. 

But he wasn’t her son, he was Jane’s. Did Emma even know who Jane was at the end of her life? She looked so sad, so confused when Emma boarded the plane out of Michigan all those years ago. Did that change her? Emma was still the same as that day, still running away. No one pressured her to do anything she didn’t want to do. If they did, she was out. That’s what happened when her parents pushed her to be like more successful, to try harder. Or when someone pressed for why she didn’t want to stay and connect in one town and instead stay for a paycheck and run. If they pressed too hard, she shut down without a second thought and disappear before they would realize what they’ve done. 

But all this trauma within the last couple years, the pent up fears and terror that he’s gone through almost alone. A dad who from the sounds of it was never himself after the death of his wife, let alone up to father for their child. It would break her, certainly at the age of 33.

What about 13? What ideas could be festering in someone’s mind, what faults could he find in himself to blame for all these actions that have happened to him?

Upstairs, Tim’s bed creaks and the door to the bathroom is closed. Emma listens for the water to run a few times and another creak before thinking about padding up the stairs. She hesitated at the door seeing the bedside light on. Tim laid with the pillow over his face, arms flopped off both edges of the bed. She cracked the door enough to fit her hip in.

“Can’t sleep?”

There was a groan from under the pillow.

“Does...This been normal?”

The blankets rumpled from a shrug.

Already this conversation was way over Emma’s head. She thought about how he looked in the mornings, how he said he dreams a lot. “You been having nightmares?” The bed stopped moving for a while. She wondered if he fell asleep before the pillow was picked up off his head. Tim stared at her, lips bunched to one side of his mouth. Emma moved further into the room. “Have you, y’know, do you want to talk about it? Things happened so fast for me I never told you that I’m sorry we had to meet this way.”

He sat up in bed, bunching the pillow on his lap. “Hatchetfield sucks.”

Emma tried not to grin. “Yeah, it seems like it does. Your mom loved it here though.”

“And look how that ended up.”

Emma sat at the edge of the bed, watching for Tim to continue. “Dad thought it was his fault. He didn’t act the same the couple years. And when the meteor crashed and the whole invasion stuff was over he only wanted to made sure I was prepped for another apocalypse. I barely hang out with you and you’re doing better than dad was.”

“Maybe that was his way of showing you he loved you. Keeping you safe and doing things. You said you went shooting with him.”

“Have you ever shot a gun with someone with PTSD? I wouldn’t call that a fun time.” He chided. Emma stalled, she didn’t know. She’s sure Jane had mentioned it in her emails to her, but she never tried to delve deeper in the things that were going on in her life. The conversation was starting to die.

“Jane—your mom did some weird things that I thought weren’t very helpful to me. But now that I look back, it was just her way to say that she was around. She liked to just include me in things she was planning, even though I wasn’t around. I always thought she was boasting, rubbing it in my face how much better she was doing than me. But now I realize it was more of an invitation for me to enter back into her life, I think. She knew I felt like I was kind of an outcast and it was her way to tell me that she’s still on my team.”

Tim looked up to her, light brown eyes big and round. “I know they loved me. And I know that my dad loved me even after the car crash...He, had this journal, that he left in their upstairs bedroom. I think he wrote in it when he had nightmares. He said how much he cared for me and only wanted me to be safe with all the weird stuff happening in town. And how he wishes he never took us out that night. He was just, he didn’t show it like mom did. He wasn’t a big talker, there wasn’t a lot of talk about mom dying after the funeral.”

“Some people find it hard to show emotions. I’m a lot like your dad in that way.”

“He barely asked questions, you ask me more about my life than he did the last two years.” He paused, smoothing out the pillow. “I saw those reports that you had from the Colonel. Sorry I was messing in your stuff. But in the one about the mall it said that there were people that died in a fire. The Colonel told me after she let Grace Chastity go home from babysitting me to the next morning that he got stabbed and was dead way before the fire started.”

“Oh.”

“I like to think that he was probably protecting someone. He always did that with me anyways.”

“He probably was. There was a lot of things going on in there, a lot of people. Maybe he was trying to get others out.”

“He went because he thought I wanted that weird toy that was on the TV. A green looking Furby thing.” Emma thought back to the fabric pinned in Hidgens’ laboratory, how it could turn to flesh if the conditions were right. She tried not to let him see the goosebumps rising on her forearms. “I didn’t really want one. Maybe if I had told him that, or if he asked me if I wanted it if he would have just been home went the mall got on fire.”

There it was, that guilt that plagued his father before his death. Guilt could fester into self hate or pure pent up fury that was waiting to burst. Emma contemplated her words. Tom didn’t sound too much different than herself from what Tim and Jane have told her. Introverted, an action taker, hard-headed. “I think that your dad had a hard time figuring out how to be the best dad. And from what your mom said, he sounded like a stubborn dude.” Tim nodded. “I don’t think he could have been swayed away from whatever he thought would make you happy.”

The quiet was deafening as the two thought thought about their past actions. The avoidance that they’ve done. Emma knew this wasn’t about her, but she couldn’t help but project her inactions or her running away to be similar to how Tim never really talked to his dad.

“You can’t blame yourself for how other people live their lives.” Emma said, leaning back against the wall as she picked at her shorts. “If you do, you’ll end up running away from everyone, maybe to Guatemala.” 

Tim nodded, “I guess, but it’s hard not to when you can’t run away and have to think about it all day.” He said, though he didn’t look like he fully believed her. She remembered the mausoleum of a bedroom that was across the hall. All of Tom’s items that still sat in the living room because Emma was too afraid to put them away without Tim saying something first. It was living in their past lives, a time before everything was ruined.

“Maybe at least talking through the parts you feel comfortable with may help. Maybe talking about mom first, what you remember of her, and I can tell you what I remember of her too. Then maybe it’ll help let all the thoughts process through the brain instead of getting jammed somewhere.” Tim nodded, wiping under his nose. “And maybe we can put some things away around the house, kind of like a way of saying goodbye? I know you never got a funeral for your dad, but maybe we can have a, like, symbolic one.”

“Okay.”

“Only if that’s what you want. You’ll have to sometimes spell it out for me, because I’m just as bad as talking about it as your dad. But I don’t want you to run away.” 

Tim smiled, picking the pillow up and pressing it against his chest. “Doesn’t sound like you’re bad at this.”

“Guess I picked something up down south.” She trailed, watching the clock turn to 3am. “Do you want me to keep hanging out with you? I’ve passed the point of my knowledge on what to do now.”

Tim snorted, shaking his head. Emma got up and put her hands into her pockets, trailing towards the door as she waved goodnight. “Thanks, Emma.” He said quietly, pulling the blankets back on top of him. She shot him some finger guns before letting the door swing closed. 

On the other side, she felt like a mess. Emma knows it had to have went well, if he thanked her, she thinks. He talked about his parents and how he felt, they both let each other into their psyches, but it still left her feeling like she’s going to throw up. It’s the same feeling she got when she found out Jane died, and when she watched her cry before getting on that plane. It was the feeling she’s been trying to escape all these years, that claw in her heart that was ripping into her soul. It hurt. Every time it seemed to hurt, a tight fist against her gut. Yet she felt as if her lungs were deeper, that she could breathe easier than before. The heaviness left on her back lightened as she walked back downstairs to the guest room that was now hers. It was almost a euphoric pain, an adrenaline like hiking 12 miles up the mountains to see the sun setting across the ocean.

Peace, a relaxation that she wishes she made it to a decade or so ago. Through all the pain, she never made it to the release until she eased the tension herself. It eased the anxiety that chanted in her mind self doubts and inanities that would keep her up at night. A valve had finally been opened. She wondered if that’s what Jane wanted to help her do instead of leaving Michigan. Maybe that’s what she missed out on al those years.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed. The hospitals work life has been rough lately and I don’t know if I’m happy with how this is heading, but I already have a big ending and climax written out so I guess I’ll struggle through.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HEY I ADDED A CHAPTER IN BETWEEN THE OTHERS. CHAPTER 8 IS TECHNICALLY NEW, AND CHAPTER 9 WAS WHAT ONCE CHAPTER 8. PLEASE READ IT IF YOU WANT MORE STUFF. SORRY FOR THE CONFUSION.

_Hello, this is Paul. I can be around yours’ at 7:30 to pick you up. Does that sound okay? - Sent 0350_

_Sounds good with me - Sent 0353_

_It’s pretty early to be waking up on a Thursday - Sent 0355_

_Is it waking up if you haven’t gone to sleep yet? - Sent 0356_

_Touche - Sent 0356_

_I could say that same to you. Didn’t sleep or are you a ‘watch the sunrise and live’ kinda guy? - Sent 0358_

_On a similar boat. I didn’t sleep much. - Sent 0359_

_That sucks. Sorry yesterday was kind of rough. I didn’t mean to bring things up. - Sent 0359_

_It’s okay. It’s been rough for a while here. There’s a lot for weird things going on here. It’s kind of not fair you’re the only one not on the same page. - Sent 0401_

_I think I may be in a different book at this point. - Sent 0402_

_Do you want some spark notes? - Sent 0402_

_I got time to kill_

15 minutes later, Emma’s sitting back int he passenger seat of Paul’s Civic. Parked but running in her and Tim’s driveway to keep the frigid air from seeping in. The smiles they shared were cordial.

“Good morning.”

“Morning.” The engined hummed along. Neither of them really knew how to initiate any sort of conversation at this early of an hour, let alone one that the government themselves want censored.

Emma tipped her head towards the driver side, studying Paul’s face. The vivid purple circles under his gleaming blue eyes. Lines etched into the skin around his lips. How red the tips of his ears were compared to his pale features. His hair was swept back out of his face instead of the subtle fall it had against his forehead. He stared at the ceiling of his car, as if counting the threads sewn above him. Emma wondered if he was working up the courage to start the conversation. Or if he was regretting doing this and wondering the best way to get her out of his car.

“Emma?”

Piercing. That’s how she’d describe his gaze, though she didn’t know when they trained down onto her. They weren’t intimidating. The glowing was something to get use to, but they always looked so gentle. Emotional. Eyes that would lose him a ton of money at the poker table. 

Wait,that’s right, she was caught staring.

“Sorry, spaced out there.”

“It’s okay. No sleep does that.”

“You say it like your an expert.”

The color in his ears was spreading. “I-uh. I-I wouldn’t say expert. I just, get caught up thinking a lot. A lot more than other people around here.” He trailed, his leg was bouncing hard enough to shake the car.

“You think people aren’t that bothered about what’s going on here?”

He hummed, taking a moment to think before answering. “They’re dealing with it. You said you knew the old Hatchetfield. A gossip market that won’t talk straight to your face. Well now there’s no gossip. Not when everyone knows the same thing. In a normal situation people would probably talk about it, debrief and decompress, but this isn’t a normal thing to happen. I think most people in town are trying to go on like normal because if they don’t they’ll, I dunno.” He huffed, rubbing his index finger and thumb into his eyes. “The meteor that crashed two years ago. I-it, there was something unreal about it. It crashed into the Civic center. Which honestly, I wasn’t too upset about.” He chuckled to himself. “I never liked musicals, no skin off my back. Bill was upset though, he was bringing Alice and Deb to see Mama Mia that night. No one was hurt, initially. It was just a weird natural disaster.

“Then the next morning things started to get weird. People were, talking, almost singing together. They moved together, like a tidal wave coming at shore. It looked harmless, the Green Peace girl was just really into her marketing campaign, it wasn’t too weird, just unnerving, maybe. But at work, Charlotte one of my coworkers, she said her husband was acting weird. A-and then our boss, Mr. Davidson. He called me into his office to ask me what I wanted in life and how no one can relate without someone knowing your wants, your goals. It was weird because he never cared before. I was always middle of the road, nothing seemed pushed me and I didn’t want to be pushed...When I say it out loud it sounds much less menacing. 

“Anyways I bolted to just clear my head and then everyone at the Starbucks across the street and before I could get my coffee the baristas started to come at me and everyone else in their dropped like they’d been poisoned and... I guess let me get to the end first. The meteor had some type of, spores or life inside of it, and it was trying to take over complex life to use as hosts to survive and do, god knows what after. They used things like wants, choices, dreams to get close to people and forcibly infect you. If you didn’t want to, they’d just kill you, because they didn’t need the mind or human part, just the body that they could put their own minds into.

“They were like a colony. They didn’t have free will or personalities, but one wavelength between them that wanted to spread and live inside of us. They talked together, they walked together. Maybe because they crashed into a musical they almost acted just like one. They were a cross between humans and robots and something that I’ve never seen before. They would yell this horrible sound that was like static and opera and would talk to you like a cult talking you into drinking the koolaid. They infected Mr. Davidson, that Green Peace girl through proximity, they didn’t even know what hit them. But they killed Charlotte. They killed her, and they killed Alice, and Bill, and Ted, and —“ Paul squeezed his eyes closed, biting down on his bottom lip. His breathing became more deliberate as he tried to calm himself.

Emma couldn’t stop the question at the tip of her tongue. “But, Bill and Ted. They’re alive, right now. We work with them.”

“Y-yeah. Yeah. They’re a lot of things that happened. But eventually, after we met— a-and after Bill... We thought maybe destroying the meteor would fix this. But at that point, everyone else was already infected, even the military. PEIP, that’s who we work for. They even got infected, and they were like a swarm. Mindless and relentless. Their only focus was survival and they couldn’t do it without bodies. 

“I was the only one left that I knew about. And they knew it. There wasn’t much left. I didn’t think there were any other options. The military had a helicopter parked and I stole some grenades off it and went to the Starlight Theatre...and I blew us up.” He stared down at his hands, grasping the steering wheel with great force. There was no gentle repose left in his eyes, a haunted look that contorted his whole face. He was getting lost, back in a moment that he could barely get through the first time.

“Did, blew us up? You didn’t get out.”

He shook his head. “I was too close. I could hear them, hear it. The voice that must have convinced them to give up their bodies. That shot Bill in the face and took Alice when she was alone and scared. I could hear it and I knew it couldn’t survive. And if that meant...” He took his hands into his lap, rubbing at the skin between his fingers. “And they got to me, because they knew there was something in me that was okay with dying. Even before I thought about blowing it up. They used it against me, maybe thinking I’d change my mind and not want to die. That I didn’t have it in me if I didn’t do it before.” He forced a smile, laugh escaped between his lips. “But they thought wrong.” 

The silence between them was deafening. He didn’t have to say it, but they both knew what he meant. That maybe he thought of that it was a perfect book ending to destroy both him and the meteor when he realized he was the only one left. Emma wished she knew what to say. Hell, she’d even take having an inappropriate joke at this point. Anything to take that desperate, anguish filled look off his face. 

Paul blinked a few time, swiping a hand through his hair before settling to fidget more in his lap. “It worked, somehow. From what I was told later, I guess the connections the hive was broken and the swarm was lost after that. They were still inside of everyone, but they couldn’t communicate to continue their spread towards survival. The military that didn’t get infected stormed in and found me, half infected and half dead. They put me back together and used me to find some sort of cure that could be used for everyone else.” Another half hearted smile. “I was a human vaccine.”

“It mostly worked on everyone. I guess another thing was how the spores or whatever fixed up the bodies they used, kept them alive like they were iron lungs preserving the cells if it was in them enough. Not half infected and disturbed during their conversion. Most people came back to relatively normal. Bill, Ted. The military. There were side effects, but we could live in our bodies again. B-but the people that got infected early on in the day. Once they were cleared of the swarm, they said they couldn’t cope with how quiet it was in their minds. They couldn’t function without the partnership, and they...they didn’t get sent off the island. They didn’t get help. They were left almost catatonic because there was nothing us humans could give them. And they killed themselves. There wasn’t a happy placebo that cured everyone. They could remember up to being infected. They remembered running away from their family and looking down the barrel of a shotgun held by your daughter. They remembered the promises that it told them before gutting them. It wasn’t mass hysteria, it was an all out genocide.”

Emma felt cold, limbs numb, almost out of body as she took in the information. That’s why they didn’t like the radio, for the chance of the static screeching or the loud chorus of voices. The times when they all spoke in unison. The social aversion. The quarantine. It all came together, like ripped edges matching into a torn journal. The Colonel said it was for the safety of the nation. They feared it could continue to spread if they didn’t fully realize what was happening.

“And then the Lakeside riots made them more worried.”

“Yeah. It was similar. I got to hear a bit about it since I was so useful the first time around. Less all out possession and more cult-y. It had a name that time. It wanted to come here but since it didn’t work the first time they tried to spawn something bigger than the meteor into Hatchetfield. Something less passive and more aggressive. Something tangible. I-I couldn’t stay through the whole debriefing.

“Paul—I...You.” Emma started, trying to gain traction into some sort of empathetic dialogue that could help them feel less terror, less unadulterated sorrow and so minuscule compared to whatever is trying to enter the world. Give compassion that he isn’t body that can be disposed or a pawn towards a bigger cause. But she couldn’t. She couldn’t even give a sympathy sorry. Emma, for once in her life, had nothing to come back with. “Fuck.”

Paul snorted. “Fuck.”

They sat in silence, just noticing the sky lightening blue from the darkness before. Fog rolled across the lawns, birds sung without fear of the end of the world. The world barely knew what was trying to break onto it’s crust but Paul and Emma did. Hatchetfield did, and they could barely do anything about it. 

Paul let out a shaky breath, his mouth moving without words coming out before he could find his voice again. “I—Okay. Uh, I’m sorry that—“

Emma didn’t want to know what he was sorry about. She didn’t look over to him when she took his hand in hers and held it tight as it was the only thing grounding her. His hand was cold but not clammy. There wasn’t any sort of heat in his palms just a small tremor that shook her vice grip. He didn’t try to say anything else, even though she could see his mouth hung open from the corner of her eyes. At first, she was afraid when he wiggled his fingers, that her move for comfort was unwanted. Instead he laced his fingers between hers and returned a locking grip between them. 

Their hands set between the console, holding on fearing if they let go they would wake up from this dream in a nightmare they could barely comprehend. It wasn’t intimate in the way two lovers would hold onto each other wanting the moment to last forever; but in a desperate way that two people who have resigned to their emotions and understood what the other felt, that wanted companionship but didn’t know any other way besides the extreme want and fear of loneliness. Two people that had seen death and accepted it together so no one was left behind.

And as they held hands, the sun began to rise.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two emotional ones. I really hope the stream of consciousness dialogue that Paul uses comes across right. Y’know when you can’t talk about things because it’s hard so you ramble a ton and bounce everywhere. That’s what I was going for.
> 
> Hope you enjoy two chapters today!


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It’s hard not to act completely different around the other residents of Hatchetfield after the revelation that Paul disclosed. Awkward wasn’t the right word. In reality, nothing changed, no one treated each other differently than before, no personal boundaries pushed further than what was already given, but Emma finally noticed things she was missing these past months.

It’s hard not to act completely different around the other residents of Hatchetfield after the revelation that Paul disclosed. Awkward wasn’t the right word. In reality, nothing changed, no one treated each other differently than before, no personal boundaries pushed further than what was already given, but Emma finally noticed things she was missing these past months. Like the purple bruise that marred Bill’s dark skin around his temple or how Ted avoided the military men downstairs, his back always facing a wall. Ted had a particular hatred for cops as well that stemmed somewhat during the incident as well as his repulsion of guns. Bill’s insistence of Alice’s hourly updates became less overbearing, his reluctance of her and Deb’s relationship, though Paul said that was a thing before the meteor crashed.

The small things that wouldn’t be note worthy except when Paul felt compelled to point them out. It was his way to cope with the horrors he faced. All the death and gore that only he witnessed in full. Now that he aired the truth, when he was reminded of those past events, he had to let them out. They came out in facts, observations told like a news report, fearing that all these secrets could eventually chip away at his soul piece by piece. He feared he’d end up like the shells of those turned in the beginning. Those who lost purpose without the hive mind, goading them and guiding them away from their personal wills.

Paul wouldn’t say it, but Emma knew he wondered if he made the wrong choice. Threw the happiness that was absent in his life for agonizingly free will and thought. Feared that since he got put back together, he has to live with the consequences of humanity.

Emma understands the feeling of missing something everyone else seemed to be born with. The stagnation, the cynical slog that is life that she’s told is filled with purpose that she’s never seemed to have found. She gets that. But never had she been faced with the option of life and death as possible outcomes that could answer the earth’s question. Paul was dead, may even still be dead, according to the readings his body apparently still give off as he never got the full effects of the infections healing properties. How can you tell someone that everything can be alright when they’ve seen both options and know every road leads to hell?

It had been a week since Paul and Emma sat in the driveway at 5 in the morning fearing god and she found it somewhat startling how easily she could flip back to the normal routine. No one said it in the office but they could tell they finally were all moving in the same direction. Little by little the others started to open up towards her. Ted sites that the change in his nature was due to knowing that she could thoroughly thrash Hidgens both verbally and physically but they both knew.

At the house, Tim started coming out of his room more often. He invited Emma to watch him and Hannah play Minecraft online or when she was over, which happened at least once a week. Emma shared stories of his mom to him from her childhood. Silly things Jane would do like make up songs to memorize important things. Or how terrible she was at roller skating. The times Jane would sneak Emma out to walk along the beach at night. Tim in return would share his own childhood. Remember fun things he did with his parents like burying Tom in the sand. Learning how to play baseball. How Jane still loved scrapbooking even into her adulthood. And even after his mom died, Tim found some solace in the small things with his dad like how proud he was of his shooting abilities. 

Unlike with her coworkers, it was a slower progress, as the pain and guilt still hung around the house like a cloud, even after they decided to start packing up some of his parents’ stuff, including his mom’s room that Tom kept for her. With each dust covered piece of memory a brick was lifted off their shoulders, weighing down both them and this house. The cleaning was almost ritualistic, never too many things at once, all going downstairs into the room with Tom’s old military equipment and the stuff they put away after the crash. Some items, like family pictures, one of his dad’s flannels, and a scrapbook Jane made of the family from their beach outings made it back into Tim’s room, took a spot next to his bed per Emma’s suggestion, so that he can look at if he woke from a nightmare.

Tim gave her the picture he had of her and Jane that he showed him the first night she arrived.

She’d still wake up some nights feeling hollow and wonder if she’d made the right choice in coming back and weaving herself into this mess that was bigger than the world, let alone the small speck that is her life. But the people is what brought her back to normal world. And she had trust the government, even though they seemed to be as weird as the citizens of Hatchetfield, had the problems locked down and maintained. 

It was the United States of America military after all. They’re supposed to have things under control. Now that they made base at the island and with all the protocols Emma’s seen and heard them push into production, she was confident that they had a handle on it.

The General gave her some positive news, reporting to them a few days after the incident with Hidgens that he was convinced that a third-party observer that would track the scientist would be useful to eliminate unauthorized experiments. Though he said it was brought from the noise complaints almost the whole block gave them, Melissa told Emma that the Colonel said the noise and subsequent outlet pullings shorted out their important virtual meeting and someone had to take the fall. It seems both the IT office and Hidgens himself left out who really pulled the plugs on the experiment and how three cords were still missing from the supplies that were purchased for him. Emma felt that she did the right thing and hung the cords at her desk, tacked up against wall of her desk like a first prize ribbon. The Colonel never brought word back of the missing equipment to her downstairs superiors.

She did what she could to calm the misery that the citizens of Hatchetfield lived in. It wasn’t easy, a year ago she would have run away in the night to never see anyone related to the circumstances again. Maybe even would have swam to Clivesdale is she needed to escape the emotions overflowing from her chest. Escape the implications all this knowledge laid out in front of her, even if they led down positive paths, reality and collateral damage always scared her enough to get away before they could begin. Though she can’t heal wounds that are still open staying was the first step towards tending to them.

For the first time since she made it to the island, or even since she’s left the island prior, Emma though she may have made a right decision for more than just herself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a little fluff and filler to get us through. I think we’re gonna start really getting building next but it’s still forming in my mind so (for realz lol) it may be a few days or so for another update.
> 
> Hope all is well!


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emma’s kept her promise about doing everything that involves the fourth floor, much to Melissa’s relief. All paperwork has been handled by her and the instances of running into the scientist was pretty slim. Besides the terror that Emma had instilled in him, he barely showed his face outside of his research lab. Hopefully due to fear for his life. They talked about him like people talk about sightings of the Loch Ness monster, glimpsing him as the elevator is closing or leaving as he enters into the military offices. It really could have been anyone, but no one else had the stark grey shine like Hidgens had in the office.

“Emma Perkins, young lady, I have a question for you.”

Hidgens has been trying to get her attention for the past days weeks. He’d been spotted by both Bill and Melissa wandering around other floors of the office, which was very odd for him. Ted thought he lived up on the fourth floor. _“The fucking loon probably holed himself up in the old tactile office like some weird science hermit, ya ever see him leave before cause I for sure ain’t.”_

Emma’s kept her promise about doing everything that involves the fourth floor, much to Melissa’s relief. All paperwork has been handled by her and the instances of running into the scientist was pretty slim. Besides the terror that Emma had instilled in him, he barely showed his face outside of his research lab. Hopefully due to fear for his life. They talked about him like people talk about sightings of the Loch Ness monster, glimpsing him as the elevator is closing or leaving as he enters into the military offices. It really could have been anyone, but no one else had the stark grey shine like Hidgens had in the office.

That day, he was waiting outside the doors to his research lab. The day before he was leaving as she dropped off paperwork but she pretended she didn’t hear him call for her. Someone must have told him her actual name, because he’s only ever called her ‘young lady’ until today. For a second she thought about pretending again not to hear. It’d be a long shot that it have worked, but he took the time to finally learn her name. She let out a huff, turning to the scientist giving him a thin lipped smile. “Yeah?”

“I have hit a breakthrough since our first conversation, young—Emma. I’ve concocted a mix of both meteor and fabric to create something I believe can be communicated with!” He was almost shouting, maybe he was starting to lose his hearing? Serves him right.

“Great.” She said in a way that barely sounded fine.

“But I’ve not yet been able to understandably crack it’s code. I’ve analyzed the sounds I’ve created and studied the movement patterns but sadly I am becoming stagnant.” Hidgens’ shoulders fell in the middle of his monologue. “I need a muse, or at least another human to drive the inspiration forward.”

Emma’s eyes flicked back between the papers in her hand to Hidgens. “Okay?”

“Emma, would you like to become my assistant?” 

She didn’t mean for the laugh to escape, let alone bark it out at his face, but she couldn’t contain it. “You’re asking to spend more time with me? The one that threatened to fight you?”

“You may be brash, young lady, but taking your advice moved this project further than I have in months. Just imagine how much we could accomplish?” 

A smirk crossed her face. “I don’t think so, buddy.”

His face fell, the mania faltering as he danced from foot to foot, looking back and forth from his research door. “B-but, but can’t, just look at what I’ve created!” The door bursts open and inside, Emma could see a glass box sitting on the desk, with speakers wired into it’s walls. Fabric and meteor dust sat at the bottom, large tattered pieces shifting ever so slightly as the above space held a completely new substance. Deconstructing into particles, aerosols floating in a perfect circle with a bright center. Weird Star Trek shit was happening now in front of her. It was entrancing, the vivid colors almost like dancing lights, morphing shapes swirling above the combined items.

“The formation can change above it. The cosmic energies attune with different wavelengths. Isn’t that magnificent?” He wasn’t wrong, her instinct was to touch it again, but she knew he would win.

She took a step back and nodded. “Yup, very cool. Now take your work.” She thrusted the papers into his chest. Hidgens stumbled a bit, surprised she wasn’t as amazed as he was. His face scrunched in disdain. Would suck at a casino tables, but may be able to hack the machines. Emma was worried he would start a soliloquy if she didn’t leave soon. Before he could respond Emma was heading back for the stairs.

Downstairs, Melissa sat at her desk, alone in the office, sipping at her coffee Paul had brought earlier in the day. She smiled, staring down at her computer. Emma rolled her both her and her laptop over towards her desk.

“They haven’t found a helper up there yet?” Melissa asked over her coffee.

“Nope. Don’t think anyone wants to work in Area 51.”

Her boss smirked. “That sucks, because you live in Area 51, girl.”

“Sounds like it. I missed the main party though.” Emma thought it was a good joke, though the face that Melissa made begged to differ, bottom lip jutting out for a second before she could control herself. Emma fell back into her chair. “Sorry, bad joke.”

“It’s alright.” Melissa leaned her face into a hand, puffing out her cheeks. “Y’know I was the assistant before all this started. You literally are me but I did more normal IT business office assistant things. I still got stupid stuff in my emails from back then. I was trying to start a softball team but no one really wanted to do it.”

“You’ve become the master.”

“Yes young one.”

Emma snorted. “Aren’t you like, 25?”

“That’s still an adult age, I’m an adult. Do you want me to call you grandma so you feel like you’re older than me?”

“Okay, okay. Ma’am.” She jeered. “Here, take these and bring them down to Christine and let me have my break in peace.” She laughed. Emma scooped the papers up, feigning an annoyed huff and started for the door. Down the hall, Paul was coming out of the elevator, they waved at each other as they got closer.

“H-hey, I have a question for you.” Paul stumbled, pushing his hands into his pockets.

“Shoot.”

“Okay, I-uh. I-I was wondering. If, you’d, uh...” He trailed for a second before pinching the bridge of his nose. “Hold on.”

“Holding.”

“Okay, I know we only hang out pretty much at work, but I just wanted to know if you would like to, I dunno, hang out sometime outside of work? In a much less intense way than hanging at 4 in the morning in my car? Maybe we could do coffee sometime? But since Starbucks is closed and the Beanie’s closed a long time ago and I know you have to watch Tim so maybe we could have coffee at yours so Tim wouldn’t have to be left alone.” By the end of his sentence he was bright red, almost glowing at much as his eyes did. She didn’t want to admit that but it was endearing. 

“So, did you just invite yourself to my place?” Emma raised an eyebrow and watched Paul fluster some more.

“Uh, no. Okay, well maybe. I, uh. I didn’t mean to.”

Emma laughed, “I think Tim would be alright with company.” She hawed, still watching as he squirmed. “How about next week Friday?”

He perked up, which made her grin her. Did he really think she’d say no? Not that she was exactly looking for a date in Hatchetfield, but that stupid grin he had made it hard to write him off. Especially from everything she’s learned about the happenings. She didn’t even know if it’d be right when there’s still so much clearly going on in his mind. Either way, she knew making friendships was something that’d be inevitable, she can’t run and definitely can’t hide anymore. What kind of harm could she inflict by making a mark around here? Hatchetfield’s already been fucked, right?

“Okay, okay, yeah! Yes. Okay, I mean that’s be nice.” He stumbled, nodding vigorously, trying to hide his beaming smile.

“Yeah. Let’s do that then. You can give me a ride home.” 

More nodding. “Okay, yeah, of course.”

They continued to stand there both quietly smiling at each other, Paul watching with a toothy grin. Emma cocked her head to the side and looked around. “So, uh, I gotta drop this stuff off downstairs...”

Paul shook from his stare, bringing both hands up between them. “Oh, okay. Yeah, uh, okay. I mean—work. I’ll go do work.” He stammered, pointing and awkwardly walking in an arc around her. “Y’know, because we’re in a place of work.”

“We are.”

“Okay, I’ll see you up here.”

“Yup. I’ll be back.”

“Okay.” He called before almost busting through the door into their office. Emma hadn’t seen a more awkward social display in a long time. Maybe it wasn’t awkward though, quirky? Eccentric? It wasn’t bad, almost adorable, which is a word she wouldn’t want to use out loud to anyone, even to a baby. She caught herself still smiling towards the office before laughing at herself and heading down the stairs to do actual work before anyone caught her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello,
> 
> Hope everyone’s doing well, staying safe, and smashing police egos. 
> 
> Have a good day.


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Emma thinks back to the conversation later in the night, lying awake in the guest bed of her late sister’s house, she’ll realize that she may have read too far into the evening they spent together. Will she regret even bringing it up? There hasn’t been a certain thought she’s had since coming back to the island. But she knows now that she’s taken steps onto a path she’s never been on before, one where she isn’t afraid to get to know someone and take on the burden of being known.

A few days later, Emma was yet again getting into Paul’s car. They had gotten out early for once, which Paul was grateful for as to ensure all the ice in the cooler didn’t melt completely.

“Cooler?” Emma asked, looking into the backseat of his car.

“Yeah, I got a six pack back there and some iced coffee. I thought it’d be rude to make you prepare things too.”

Emma tapped her fingers against the side door smiling mischievously. “I guess that makes up for you inviting yourself over.”

He glanced over as he pulled out of the parking lot, catching her making the face. “Harsh, you’ve already called me out, you gotta rub it in some more?”

She just laughed watching out the window as they pulled out of the town center. “You know we could have stopped by your place before heading to mine. Tim’s not young enough that he’d eat cleaning supplies because they’re colorful.”

“We could have, but I live on the other side of the island, it’d take a while going out on those roads.”

“I thought you lived with Bill and Alice.”

Emma didn’t mean to make him blush, so she tried not to stare as his cheeks flushed red. “I-I, uh, don’t live with them anymore. That was only after college. I have my own place now. I like to call myself a semi-functioning adult, thank you very much.”

“Sorry, I’ve just always seen you come out of their place. But I mean, I’m not that perceptive. I’ve only seen you there a few times.” She said, sliding back into the passenger seat.

Paul waved it off. “It’s okay. I uh, only said I was a semi-functioning adult. Some nights I end up there late.” He paused, contemplating his next words. “I get some nights when it’s hard to be living alone, y’know?”

With all honesty, Emma wasn’t too sure if she knew. Her whole adult life was living on the lamb so to speak, even on her bad nights, drunk, lonely, and feeling worthless, she never felt like needing another human to soften the blows of reality. Probably because there was no one to call during those moments, but she knew from her childhood, there’s a lot less regret that’s pent up inside when all the doors are closed. Viewing windows into her emotions were boarded up before they could be shattered open again. By the time someone asked for another evening together, it was a countdown of the minutes it took for her to begin packing.

She nodded nonetheless.

Soon after they pulled back into Emma and Tim’s driveway and she watched as he pulled the cooler from his trunk. Inside, she noted the two stuffed backpacks and large first aid kit that sat neatly tucked into one corner. An axe hung off the side of one bag, rope off the other. She recognized them from volunteers and other backpackers in Guatemala, emergency or disaster kits. While they were often utilized down south, she knew that most people in the United States that carried these kind of bags were called ‘doomsday preppers’. Unlike Paul, most wouldn’t live to see one, let alone two catastrophes.

They went in through the garage and Emma showed him a spot to set the cooler down in the kitchen.

“Tim will probably be home in an hour or so.” Emma said, looking through the cupboards for some glasses. Paul made a sound of agreement. When she turned back she snorted watching Paul pulling out some of his own glasses out of the cooler. “You’re a pretty prepared guy, there.”

“Yeah, you never know what you’ll need, y’know?” He poured out some coffee into glasses and passed one to her. “So you said you lived here as a kid. What year did you graduate?”

“2004.”

“Huh. Funny I graduated the same year.”

Emma’s face scrunched up. “I never saw you around. Were you in anything?”

“You probably went to Hatchetfield High. I went to Sycamore.”

“Fucking Timberwolves!” She said tipping the glass towards him with a smile. “We hated you guys.”

“We hated ourselves.” He shrugged, almost too enthusiastically for someone ripping on themselves. “We made our own slogan. “Who needs two schools on one island?”

“It’s because you can spread more rumors when you keep the kids separated like that. Lotta people hung out between the schools I’ve heard a lot of weird shit about you guys.”

“Must have been a Hatchetfield High thing, I never heard much gossip.”

“Well, I was in the joint theater group, that’s where I got all the good shit. Those theatre kids man they can’t keep their mouths shut to save their lives.”

“Oh, a theater nerd, were you? Now everything’s starting to make sense with you.” Paul laughed as Emma gave him the best sardonic look she could muster, which was hard when she was trying to hide a smile. “Y’know I probably saw you at one of those musicals. I don’t know why I went, they all sucked.”

“Hey, I was a great Bonnie Jean, thank you very much. And I did other things, I was into science, like biology and space shit. I didn’t understand most of it but theoretical stuff was always pretty cool.”

Another shrug. “I don’t know who that is and frankly have repressed those musicals into my memory so I don’t want to he reminded.” They shared another laugh, he rolled his glass around in his hands a bit before asking, “so where’d why’d you leave for so long? You said one time that you actually didn’t know your nephew until you came back here.”

Emma cocked her head to the side, sucking at the inside of her bottom lip. “Y’know how kids are. I went to go find myself.”

“Where’d it bring you?”

“I ended up in Central America, mainly Guatemala. Did a lot of backpacking, lots of bartering, bartending when I ended back in tourist areas. Lots of hostels and hotels. I never really anchored anywhere down there either.”

“That sounds pretty cool. You must have really liked it down there.”

“I thought I did. Everything was pretty no strings attached. I never had to worry about anything or anyone other than myself.” She stopped for a second contemplating what to say. How fair was it for him to pour out his heart and soul before for her to shut him out? “It was relieving compared to the bombardment of criticisms I got when living at home. I wasn’t anything unless I was just like Jane, Tim’s mom to most people. I guess I was looking for a clean slate, try to move away from the times up here. And I found it down there, but now that Jane’s died, I guess I’m paying for all those missed opportunities to see her.”

Paul pursed lips, brows slowing outwards. “You couldn’t have known that would happen.”

“I missed her wedding for fuck’s sake. Her wedding, the baby shower, her funeral. I didn’t go to any. I barely made an effort really to get all her calls. I knew I’d come visit her someday. One day I’d be back in Hatchetfield. Be a good sister and meet her family, we probably would have gotten along better without my parents around. But things ended up happening much different. I kind of wish I came back earlier to visit than having to claim her house from the will.”

“Trying to move forward with the past still walking around you is hard.” He said, leaning onto his forearms, wringing his hands together.

“Yeah, I should kind of be glad how things ended up. I mean, I don’t have a degree, I don’t have any legitimate work experience, I would have ended up a barista at some shitty cafe until I could figure out how to be a real adult.”

“I barely feel like an adult and I have a degree.” He offered.

“Ya got me there.” She said, finishing off the rest of the coffee in her glass. “Sometimes I wonder if there are alternate realities, like that Berenstein versus Berenstain books and shit. I wonder if there’s another Emma somewhere that got her shit together in her 20’s, got to spend time with her sister, maybe made her parents proud, or a place where Jane never died.” 

“Maybe, I mean there are aliens or some type of sentience that isn’t human right here in Hatchetfield. It wouldn’t be too far to say that there could be other timelines.” 

She tipped the glass again towards Paul. “Maybe there’d be one where you guys never went through that weird shit with the meteor.” Paul nodded, staring down at his own empty glass thoughtfully, but gave no comment. “But maybe we would have run into each other in high school in one. You may have been in a musical with me in another reality.”

He scoffed almost missing his glass as he poured out some more coffee. “That sounds fucking terrible. I would never want to be in that reality. It would have been cool knowing you back then. If you’re anything like you are now, you’re pretty cool. I mean, besides the theater shit.”

“Listen pal, if I didn’t know any better, that’d be a challenge to sneak a RENT CD into the ceiling tiles at work, but I know better.”

If Paul heard that from anyone else at that time of his life, it would have been a terrifying threat, that may have made him drop to his knees to beg for forgiveness, but the look on Emma’s face. Hint of a smile but eyes that shown only empathy and a bit of sadness told him that she didn’t really mean it. The way she responded to finding out what really happened in Hatchetfield in the past few years proves she isn’t as callous or indifferent as she thought she was.

Behind her, the back door opened and Tim she turned to see Tim and Hannah walking into the house.

“Hey there.” Emma greeted.

“Hi.” Tim said, Hannah giving her a wave. She had a small smile that widened the further she looked into the kitchen, giving Paul a wide grin and waving again.

“Tim this is Paul, he works with me. Uh, I guess Hannah and you already know though.” She said pointing to Paul, but he looked confused, eyes flicking back between the younger girl and Emma. “Oh, well this is Hannah Foster. She’s in Tim’s grade.”

“We’re gonna play Minecraft in my room.” Tim said, crossing the kitchen. Emma nodded with a thumbs up and only noticed as he got to the stairs that Hannah wasn’t with him. Turning, she found Hannah moving slowly away from the back door, continuing to stare at Paul. The two adults glanced between each other, bewildered by the young girl’s seemingly knowing smile.

“Hello there.” Paul waved at her and then pointed up at her hat. “I like your hat. The Nighthawks are cool.”

“Even though you never went there.” Emma muttered, getting an eye roll in return.

The girl still stalled near them, playing with her hat for a second before finally speaking. “Finally reuniting.” She said, almost relieved. “The protectors are back.”

“Uhh...” Paul trailed, trying best to think of some way to answer the incoherent statements. He eventually ended up with, “thanks?”

“Webby said it’d work out this time.” 

“Okay.” He nodded, which was apparently the right response, as it got him another beaming smile before she skipped to the stairs up to Tim’s room. Both the adults watched as she disappeared upstairs. “Okay.” He repeated, turning back to Emma, his tongue stuck between his teeth. Emma could almost see the words forming stroke by stroke inside of his head. “Okay.” 

They both started to laugh, almost giggle. Before trying to move along from the weird interaction they just had with a 12 year old. Hard to ignore when a child is talking to you in riddles. But they moved on. Beers were cracked and Emma invited him to stay for dinner _since y’know, you’ve already invited yourself here_. Hannah didn’t say anything else almost prophetic while they ate pasta but Emma still wondered if it had anything to do with her greeting Emma those weeks ago like they’ve met before too. Soon enough the sun was starting to set, Hannah’s sister picked her up and Paul was packing to leave. She walked him out to his car as they laughed about something Bill and Ted were arguing about earlier in the day.

Paul set his cooler in the back seat, shutting the door he turned to Emma and smiled. “This was fun.”

Emma gave a thin smile back, leaning into the driver side door. “It was.” She trailed. The evening was nice, besides the side tangents about eldritch beings beyond comprehension, it was a break back into a normal style of life, but she couldn’t stop the itching reminder of that of all the relationships she ran away from, both in Hatchetfield and in Guatemala that she was too afraid to build. A small voice reminded her that in due time, if she let this continue the way it was going, one of them would leave. One would be disappointed, or couldn’t keep up with the other. He would be tired of her mundane complaints, her abandonment fears. And feelings of pointlessness are nothing compared to martyring yourself to save humanity. Between the reminders of the strange occurrences in town, the trauma Paul had went through, how he was, for the sake of better terms, already dead, living on borrowed time. 

“I really did enjoy this, Paul, but...” 

Two people fighting against their own inner demons that felt like giants compared to the specks of dust they were in the universe. It was enough to make her want to bolt into the lake right then. But she knew better. They were adults, they both still needed time to grow instead of depend on the solace each other gave. She feared they would hate each other for having to remind them about reality. That he would end up as disappointed in her as she was about herself.

He looked nervous, fidgeting and picking at the skin between his fingers as she tried to form a sentence. She had to hurry or he may implode on the spot.

“I just want to be open about this, but I want you to know that I really enjoyed this, and I really like spending time with you.” He began pulling at his tie. “But I think we both have a lot of stuff to work on, and with whatever’s going on in Hatchetfield. I don’t want us to use each other as a crutch until both of us have run dry.”

Emma watched, waiting for him to frown maybe tear up, or grow angry and hateful, but he didn’t. The drop in his shoulders wasn’t one of sadness, and at that, he was smiling by the end of her sentence. “You know.” He started, rubbing the back of his neck as he let out a breath. “At some point, I think during the conversation about alternate realities when you mentioned one where the meteor never hit here. I was worried you’d think I was using you to regain my own sanity. Like some sort of fucked up therapy sessions. I mean our first, like, real interaction as me almost having a breakdown about even mentioning what’s gone on the past few years.” 

He stopped, mouth still moving as he tried to get back on track. “I really wish we did end up meeting in a different timeline. Y’know, in high school, where neither of us are as fucked up as we are now. Just only a little fucked up.“ Emma snorted, giving him a toothy grin. “But I know that I have to figure myself out first. And it sounds like you have a similar thought about yourself.”

She gave another nod, pushing off his car. “I just don’t want to mess things up.”

“I get that. I’d rather us be friends than than one of us find another job. There aren’t a lot in Hatchetfield.”He looked down softly, with the sun setting his eyes were a vibrant blue that pierced through her own dark brown.

Here they were, talking about keeping things slow and consistent, yet Emma’s never felt more connected. “Give it a while, but we’ll come back to this conversation. I think I’d want to come back to this conversation sometime.”

“I’m glad you said something.”

“I’ve always been told I got a smart mouth.” 

They shared a smile and at first, Emma thought Paul was going for a hug, which she wouldn’t have said no to, but instead, he gave her a pat on the shoulder. He realized his social flub and started to turn red.”We’ll do this again soon, okay?”

When Emma thinks back to the conversation later in the night, lying awake in the guest bed of her late sister’s house, she’ll realize that she may have read too far into the evening they spent together. Will she regret even bringing it up? There hasn’t been a certain thought she’s had since coming back to the island. But she knows now that she’s taken steps onto a path she’s never been on before, one where she isn’t afraid to get to know someone and take on the burden of being known. 

She grinned. “Yeah, okay, let’s.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Relationships are hard, though I wouldn’t really know. I like to believe that while i end game them together, that’s something that happens over a long period of time that would expand way past the plot of this one book. They’re truly broken people, it’d only be real that they’d want to take their time and repair themselves first, y’know?


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hidgens’ new hire was spotted well before they were introduced to the floor.Word gets around almost as fast as a hound tracking a scent. A calm buzz of anticipation floated around the tech department when Melissa got word of them touring downstairs. Curiosity peaked on the prospect of new blood.
> 
> 6/15 Update: Changed the ending.

Hidgens’ new hire was spotted well before they were introduced to the floor.Word gets around almost as fast as a hound tracking a scent. A calm buzz of anticipation floated around the tech department when Melissa got word of them touring downstairs. Curiosity peaked on the prospect of new blood.

“There hasn’t been a new hire, before you that is, I think ever. I don’t think they wanted all this information passing through a ton of islander’s hands.” Paul explained when Emma asked about the apparent excitement.

“Hopefully they’re as good here as Emma has been.” Bill smirked. Always the gentleman. She gave him a pair of finger guns in response. 

“They’ll need someone as good as her to keep up with Hidgens.” Paul added.

From the other side of the desk, Ted popped up, leaning his harms against the top of one of Bill’s monitors. “We should start a pool. Bet the date they run the hell out of here. Or wait! Or the day they’ll snap and try to strangle the loon with his own science equipment!”

“Ted!” Melissa shouted, running over from her desk to the other cubicles. “Be nice, Tedward. If it keeps him from doing weird stuff that effects us then I say it’s for the better. We should help this person out as much as possible.”

“Ah, c’mon Melissa. I’m just trying to have a little fun in this place.”

“Betting on someone’s mental breakdown isn’t my idea of fun.”

“Maybe it’s because you just gotta relax. It’s not like I tried to start a bet when Perky got hired too.” He said, rolling his eyes.

Emma scrunched up her face, looking between the others who didn’t object to what Ted was saying. Paul was starting to turn a different shade of red. “I-uh. We never actually did it. Ted just brought it up when we heard someone new was coming.”

“And I said the same thing I’m saying now, which is no.” Melissa stated.

Emma smirked a bit. “Did you bet the day I’d quit too?”

Ted shook his head, giving a smug smile. “Nope, I was trying to bet on the day you were going to swim back to Clivesdale.”

She snorted. “Well first of all, fuck Clivesdale, I’d rather swim back to Marquette before I swim to Clivesdale.” Bill and Paul chuckled along. “Did I make it past your date at least, Tedward?”

“I’m not giving up my hand. Who knows when you’re gonna hijack that military helicopter outta here.”

“You gotta have—“

The door near Melissa’s desk opened and Lieutenant Lee came in with two other people, a man and woman following close behind, eyes wandering around the new space with big eyes. The man was older, maybe late thirties, early forties. He was portly, the light brown hair on his head was thinning on the top, facial features sagging around his wrinkles. Already there was an air of ‘business man’ around him. The other woman was less of a woman and more like a child. Younger than even Melissa, she looked to be straight out of high school. Curled brown locks held back with a headband, bright eyes and a button nose, Emma thought she looked like a crew member of the Pink Ladies.

The Lieutenant brought the two up to the IT team who were all staring from their cubicle farms. It felt like deja vu from when she first entered the floor with the Colonel. Lee faced Melissa and waved his hand from the new people and back to her.

“Melissa, this is Grace Chastity and Gerald Monroe. They’re going to be assisting Henry Hidgens in his research and as a liaison with you for his reports. Grace, Gerald, this is Melissa Cardenas. She is the tech departments supervisor. Her team consists of her assistant Emma Perkins, and the informaticists Paul Matthews, Bill Davis, and Ted Stephens. A lot of paperwork will come from them to be used for Hidgens’ research.”

Melissa gave them both a handshake upon their greetings while the others waved as they were named, not rushed to stand and continue introductions. The two newcomers didn’t say much, Grace gave a bright, polite smile while Gerald kept a gruff look as he nodded towards each one of them.

“He got two assistants then?” Bill asked, giving a meek smile after to offset how blunt he sounded.

The Lieutenant nodded. “He came to me as his supervisor as pleaded a case for more than one assistant, giving case towards the increasing frequency of his experiments it would be more helpful towards the greater good to have another pair of hands.”

Everyone, including the newcomers, gave a confused smile, nodding along. The Lieutenant was a smart man so it sounded like a good reason, at least to Emma. Paul had mentioned that Lee was the main person to push to hire Hidgens when he told the military of theories and lifelong studies towards the end of the world. Doomsday may not have been on the table that time, but the Lieutenant took a particular liking towards his ability to predict the meteor and realizing how it interacts with sounds. While he didn’t spend too much time up with Hidgens in his lab he kept a close eye on his progress, helping with the analysis of information that the tech department processed from the scientists findings. The Jekyll and Hyde partnership, as Ted called it was more accurate the longer Emma worked in the office.

“Well good for him. It’ll be great help, right guys?” Melissa prompted.

Paul, being the most awkward person in the world, nodded vigorously in agreement to help Melissa’s cause. Emma and Bill shared a quiet laugh. The Lieutenant didn’t seem to notice and took it as a genuine statement, before departing with the two assistants on a course towards their main floor.

The door clicked shut and Emma turned to Melissa. “I’m pretty sure that girl used to babysit Tim.”

“Weird.”

“Do you guys know the other guy?”

“Never heard of him.” Bill said.

“Looks like an accountant, Ted you know him?”

Ted lips were pursed into a thin line, brows furrowed into each other as he thought. “He looks familiar.” He mumbled, before dropping back into his computer chair and typing on his computer, a few seconds later he shouted out, pointing at his screen. “I was right! That guy used to be a counselor! Char was seeing him with her husband! That fucking noodle was the dude giving her shit advice!”

Bill scoffed. “There’s no way that’s the guy Charlotte was going to. You said she was, y’know...”

“That’s what I’m saying! I can’t believe that ding dong is here. Oh god, why does the world have to play me like this?” He moaned, throwing his hands across his eyes. “Why is the world so cruel to me. What did I do?”

“Ted, it’s alright, man. You’ll probably never have to interact with him. I mean, you’ve never actually met him, right?”

“I mean, yeah, but. C’mon Bill! It’s Charlotte we’re talking about. I can’t believe that’s what I was up against! I mean, goddamn.”

Completely lost, Emma had no idea what was going on. She looked back between Melissa and Paul but they were too invested in the conversation that was playin gin front of them. The investment was high, but she didn’t really know why, she couldn’t even pick the name Charlotte out but Ted’s ranting seemed more authentic than how he pestered Bill.

“Ted, her and Sam were having a terrible marriage. She felt alone. Things were already complicated.”

“You can’t say I wasn’t an upgrade, I mean look at the sleaze.” There was a hint of defeat in his voice, one that sounded incredibly contrasting compared to his usual cocky asshole demeanor he usually airs to the team on every other day of work.

“You always had a special place in her heart.” Bill said quietly.

A pause, Ted’s hands moved from his hips to crossing his body, becoming small. “Thanks man.” Authenticity wasn’t the first trait that Emma would characterize from him, but she knew that there was only so much of an asshole that one could be to hide whatever feelings he has. That was something that her and Ted had in common.

No one moved, Melissa still standing, leaning into Emma’s chair as someone waited for another response. Paul stood abruptly. “Hey, I think I could use a coffee. I’ll get you guys the usual, right? Nothing better.” 

What a strategy. Emma’s watched him pull this card before, whenever he’s feeling uncomfortable. Never got old apparently, and in all honesty Emma could really relate. “I’ll give you a hand.” She called, popping up and jogging to catch him before the door closed. Outside, Paul gave her a nod and looked both surprised and relieved. She shrugged, adding, “I hope you need a hand that is, or it’ll be way to obvious I wanted out.”

He chuckled. “Okay, sure.” The elevator pinged open and quietly hummed as they stood almost shoulder to shoulder. His thumb danced back and forth tapping each finger in rhythm, when she looked up she could see the muscles in his jaw working as they clenched and unclenched.

“You good?”

He gave her a short glance before the elevator shuddered open. “Yeah, it’s good. Feel like they wanted some time, maybe, y’know?”

Emma nodded, following him down the sidewalk. “Charlotte’s not around anymore?”

“No, she’s been gone for a while, from the...yeah.”

“Yeah.” 

“Charlotte was really sweet, a charm to work with, but her husband got her in the end.” She hummed a response, not daring to press further, already connecting the dots together. There was more to the silence, she could tell her, stories and emotions that have been caged away, buried along with the person that held no epitaph. Emma wondered how many would be forgotten, abruptly wiped from the narrative after reality warped against them. 

They continued across the intersection before Paul pushed the door open to a Starbucks on the corner. Dust collected on the tables and chairs spaced around the area. The lights were off and register powered down but he didn’t seem bothered, walking behind the counter himself and pulling some supplies from under the bar.

“So, they’re closed then?”

“Oh, yeah. They closed a long time ago. Not many people wanted to work at a place like this after almost dying. I can’t really blame them.” The machines whirred softly as he prepped some generic cups with fresh milk from the small fridge. The shelves behind him were picked over, tins of tea and odd flavors set stale but the tiny square surrounding the machine held brand new flavors with the brandless cups and tins of ground coffee. 

“Every building is still running in town, even the abandoned ones. The government doesn’t really care about power consumption anyways. Most aren’t even locked, you can push right in. I found this place because I saw the General come in a few times when we first started working together. He said he wasn’t a fan of the big corporate mill house that Starbucks is but the free espresso machine won him over. And it’s way better than that Beanie’s that was a corner over. I know most can’t really taste the difference in coffee but Beanie’s served some shit coffee.” He chuckled.

Steam rose and Paul whipped up some specialty coffees with surprising ease. “They ran out of supplies a long time ago too, but I keep it stocked enough for the work week. They didn’t seem to notice the extra supplies I order. I’m pretty sure they’re using this place too.”

“Where’d you learn to use be a barista?”

“Lots of YouTube tutorials. Ted spat most of them back out in the grinning but I must have gotten better if he stopped calling me a noodle.”

Emma snorted. “So he’s always been like that?”

Paul paused, leaning up against the counter. “Kinda. He’s always been a bit of an asshole, but I guess I don’t know how much cause he didnt’ actually work with us. I pulled some strings after everything happened, since Charlotte was gone we were down a person.” He slid a cup over towards Emma, dark brown with no fixings compared to the latte he was drizzling some caramel on top of. “I’m pretty sure he’s toned down. It was rough for a lot of people, y’know?”

Emma nodded. She wondered if they separated their lives into two halves. Before and after stopping reality. Mundane lives or a trying single parent or a dramatic affair, everything had to stop or forced to stop, and they had to live with it. It wasn’t a choice, like Emma’s choice to stop the contact with her family. what a jarring life to lead to violently pause most of a life’s journey to only be duct taped quiet in fear of the government or a total meltdown? It’s a philosophical question, do people change? Or does trauma just shape our perception? 

Emma watched as Paul capped off a fourth drink. “Did he always call people fucking noodles though?”

He snorted. “Uh, yeah, that’s always been a Ted thing.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ended up changing the final few chapters to something else. Don’t ask why because even i don’t know.  
> Also Gerald i think looks like a young Alfred Hitchcock, but don’t @ me.
> 
> Also why does nick lang hate last names? But i feel you dude.


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Two assistants went upstairs one month ago, but only one was ever spotted by Emma after that. Grace was the one doing the most of the communication from the fourth floor, if not Hidgens himself. She mentioned Gerald Monroe enough in the present tense to not worry Emma that the guy ‘mysteriously disappeared’. No matter the amount of times Ted conspired the many ways the scientist could have used his body for experiments.

Two assistants went upstairs one month ago, but only one was ever spotted by Emma after that. Grace was the one doing the most of the communication from the fourth floor, if not Hidgens himself. She mentioned Gerald Monroe enough in the present tense to not worry Emma that the guy ‘mysteriously disappeared’. No matter the amount of times Ted conspired the many ways the scientist could have used his body for experiments.

Emma enjoyed the interactions she had with Grace, Tim’s old babysitter was a sweet, bubbly girl who always asked about Emma’s day and would even say goodbye, which was more than what Hidgens would ever say. The young assistant would even meet Emma halfway, if not come all the way down to the tech office before the papers were finished drying. Punctual and polite. Emma hoped that Hidgens was smart enough to know when he had something good.

Her pleasant demeanor was almost enough to get over the low rumbling that was coming from the ceiling. They doubt they would have even noticed at first if not for Grace’s new headphone accessories she started dawning after a few weeks into the new position. When asked, the answer sure didn’t offer any explanation as she danced around that it _”just helped lightening the volume from the songs the professor plays upstairs.”_

_“Professor?”_

_“Yes, he used to teach at the community college! I dual enrolled a biology course my junior year with him and helped him prep his lab for the other classes as extra credit.” Punctual and smart, a parent’s dream child._

_“That sounds wonderful. Is that how you were connected for the job?” Bill asked._

_“Yes, I was hoping to take anatomy and physiology with him this year but with everything online it fell through. I still get to learn a lot though, which will be helpful for college courses later, I’m certain.” The printer beeped and Bill pulled a stack off, handing it over to Grace. “Thank you, Mr. Davis. See you guys later!” Grace waved and bounced out of the office. Emma leaned back in her chair, hands behind her head, happy she didn’t have to climb up the stairs to the lab herself._

Grace was scheduled to the minute, Emma could practically predict her lunch breaks as she always dropped off before and picked up after. The allotted hour was never shorted nor dragged on. For someone that could barely be 20, Emma was impressed.

“She’s always been like that.” Bill added after Grace gave her 2 minutes in the office. “She ran the church nursery. I think some of those babies were potty trained before they could walk.”

Emma snorted. “She should run for president.” 

“She was the salutatorian of her class. You know I always thought her and Alice would have been such a cute couple together. I even used to sign Alice up to the nursery room to get them to hang out, but Alice really go for it.”

“Because her and Deb were, and are, doing really well.” Paul retorted. Bill was never too excited to mention Deb, but Paul noted he tried to stick out for the two girls to even out the criticism they got from over protective dad.

“Yeah.”

“And they both are doing really well in their online classes. Didn’t Alice say they both got A’s on their recent presentation?”

“I know, I know.” Bill raised his hands in defeat. “Alice could marry Beyoncé and I’d find a problem.”

After the month or so that Emma’s kicked back from her daily courier duties it was almost enough to make her worry when Grace didn’t show up for her before lunch drop off. By the end of the hour she couldn’t make an excuse to why she didn’t do her job herself and she grabbed the reports, heading towards the stairs. Most of the exercise she got was at work and she could tell that cutting out 75% of her travels affected her judging by the burn in her calfs. 

A new sign adorned the fourth floor door.

_Ear protection must be worn at all times on this level_

To the right hung a couple pairs of heaving duty headphones, the kind you’d wear in the shooting range. Bright orange that rad ‘guest’ on one of the sides. Sanitary wipes were bolted into a holder next to them. Brows furrowed, Emma wiped a pair down and settled them over her ears. The sudden silence was eerie. The office wasn’t known for being noisy but cutting out the ambience took it to another level.

She pushed into the main hallway and was surprised to see so much change from the last time she’d been up there. Sound proofing lined the floors with only a narrow pathway for someone to walk. More was propped against the walls and every other surface it could reach. She was tempted to take off her headphones, just to know how quiet it would be surrounded by so much dampener but the low growl that rattled her teeth that she didn’t feel before opening the door meant the sound proofing was doing it’s job.

There was so much vibration in fact she could barely feel the floor beneath her feet. Like walking on air as she carefully followed the path to the research lab. Each step became heavier to make contact lest she feared she’d slip on jittering molecules that moved her insides against her frame. Her jaw clenched tight to stop the uncontrolled shivering that clacked her teeth. Though she couldn’t tell if it was from the sound or the sudden drop of temperature that happened as she approached the open doorway.

Rounding into the lab, Emma had to squint to make out the bodies in the room against the dark dampener encasing the walls and windows. Her eyes adjusted on the three people in the room surrounding the leftmost table. Back turned to the door, they stood crouched close to the table, stock still as they took in whatever was sitting before them. Her breath was visible when she called out to them, only to remember how much sound was already assaulting the room that it’d be fruitless to even scream. She did find it odd though that they all had taken off their headphones as she could see them next to a glowing light on the table. The rumbling made her shoulders shake in a way that’s been conditioned into her a response of apprehension and unease. She approached cautiously to look over the balding man’s shoulder.

The plastic box from before no longer held a small universe inside, but sat as a throne for the purple glowing object above it. Swirling vortexes of particles that shimmered an iridescent glow filled a large volume of the area of the desk it hovered atop. Translucent strands rose and fell forming out of nothing to create ever shifting bars that seemed to form in a way that faced all ways at once. The size of the columns shifted from strings to large bars at varying speeds. 

Beautiful was an understatement. The ethereal formation was almost too amazing to even look. Emma could tel her eyes were watering, blurring the image that seemed to phase in and out of her vision. Like the sounds that Hidgens played for her the first time she ran into him, her thought process seemed to trudge through her muddled mind to deliver her the reminder that there were still others in the room with her. It was hard to look away the formation commanded a need to be looked at, but she turned her head to look to the faces of the other three who stared at it with the same wonder as she just had.

The glimmering specks seemed to dance in their eyes. Smiles spread across their faces as they stood in pure bliss before whatever was in front of them. Emma noted how much paler Hidgens looked from the last time she saw him, especially compared to the two flanked him. His usually well kept hair shined back the glow in front of him. No one seemed to notice whenEmma stepped further into the trio’s view. So entranced, she wondered how they could stand there without their ears bleeding seeing the wall of speakers stacked behind them. Yet they barely moved once since she arrived.

The papers in Emma’s hands waved gently, contrasting the raged feeling she got with each breath. She set them down in front of Hidgens, trying to not touch or look more at the formation next to her, no matter how much it wanted to be appreciated. Though her mind felt like concrete the glow made her mind itch to see it once more, pushing the idea through her neurons much faster than any other thought could move. But the low growls she could feel and hear through the headphones was starting to hurt. Her chest felt sore trying to stay put together. 

There was reluctance, a disappointing feeling when she started to trek out of the room. Like she was missing something, missing out on the stunning show that she was part of for mere seconds. What a shame. She shoved the thoughts back, most sickened thinking how much stronger she felt towards the glowing gas than any invitation her sister sent her in the past 15 years. It felt wrong, dirty to give into her impulse when she’s working so hard to make up for her past mistakes.

Pushing through the stairway doors the growls turned to distant thunder. Her mind cleared exponentially during the seconds she waited before pulling the headphones off and dropping them back to their hook. She took one last glance at the door. A plain, industrial white door with a laminated sign taped to it, it would be so normal if she didn’t know the insane things that happened behind it.

The soft clicked of computer mice and Ted’s inane muttering felt like home compared to what she just experienced. Emma dropped down into her chair and clicked her tongue a few times trying to interrupt the ringing in her ears.

“Long trip upstairs there, Perky.” Ted called from the other side of the divider.

Emma glanced down at the clock on her monitor. She’s been gone for an hour. God, she lost that much time up there? Her hand swiped across her face in annoyance. “Shit.”

“Too much fun with your new bestie, Grace?”

“No, just got distracted, I guess.”

“Jesus, I’m just asking, you don’t have to yell.”

“I’m not yelling.”

“You’re louder than my asshole mouth.”

“Stick a fork up your ass, Tedward.” She grumbled.

Melissa rolled her chair towards them. “What she up there?”

“Yeah, they’re all up there. Doing...weird shit. They— I don’t even know. It looked, so cool but so weird. I’m pretty sure they’re trying to make a galaxy now. Or opening a portal to space.” Emma chuckled to herself.

“That’s...concerning, isn’t it?”

“I mean, I don’t know. Other scientists are splitting atoms under France. It doesn’t look radioactive so we should be fine. Besides the sensory overload you’ll get up there without headphones. They must be going deaf up there, maybe that’s why they weren’t wearing theirs.”

Melissa looked around to the guys, pulling her lip between her teeth. “That’s concerning. I’m concerned. Aren’t you?”

Emma shook her head, though spotted the nods that Melissa got from the boys. “I mean, he’s a kook but he’s our kook, right? He’s a government nut.” 

“He’s done a lot of, questionable things, Emma.” Paul said carefully.

Bill nodded. “I still think he’s a dangerous man. Anything he’s trying to do could be dangerous to everyone here. Do you think we should say something?”

“To Xander?” Melissa asked.

“Maybe to the General?”

“Doesn’t he already know? This whole operation is his.” Emma said.

“He should.” Melissa paused for a moment, glancing to the door near her desk. “Maybe I’ll ask Christy again about him.”

There’s a lot of history that Emma didn’t have context to. Lots of fear and paranoia that has been built up on for a days worth of trauma before they could contain the situation. Legitimate terror from people trying to kill each other just a few months ago due to what they’re working on upstairs. Surely they didn’t let their paranoia get the better of them, Emma trusted their judgement so far.

“—course it’s not overreacting. We’re getting paid to watch people google shit. This whole thing is built on paranoia.” Ted shouted, pulling Emma back into the conversation.

“Sh-should we check it out first?”

“Oh no. No, no, no! You can’t get me up there. There’s no way I’m getting in that dungeon.”

Everyone became quiet. Looks were shared but Emma could feel the worry radiating around the room. “I could go say something, if that’ll be easier.”

Melissa brightened at the statement, “you would?”

“Yeah, sure, why not?” She shrugged. Melissa gave clapped before pulling Emma in for a hug.

“Thank you, I mean it when I say we really appreciate you doing that. Hidgens...kind of freaks me out at least.”  
“No worries. I’ll go do it right now even before they can blow up the building.” Her joke fell flat as the others glanced around nervously. “I didn’t say that, shit, well I’m just gonna go.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy edit and chapter. I got another one that is already prepared I think. I’ve said it a few times but I think we’re a chapter or two away from getting ramped up.
> 
> Have a good Monday.


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> General John McNamera was the epitome of an American Soldier. Broad shoulders, strong jaw, pack a day smoker, patriotic as fuck. He had a head of luscious blond hair that he let fall down to his shoulders, pulled back in a ponytail tucked under his beret. Emma didn’t spend too much time around him as he was diligent about the time on his hands. Aside from the from directions to deliver information, his stately nature is the only other characteristic she has about the man.

General John McNamera was the epitome of an American Soldier. Broad shoulders, strong jaw, pack a day smoker, patriotic as fuck. He had a head of luscious blond hair that he let fall down to his shoulders, pulled back in a ponytail tucked under his beret. Emma didn’t spend too much time around him as he was diligent about the time on his hands. Aside from the from directions to deliver information, his stately nature is the only other characteristic she has about the man.

It was almost surprising that he had some free time when Emma knocked on his door. “I got 22 minutes.” He gave a nod and waved her to the seat before his tidied desk. Stacks of Manila folders organized in neat piles in front of his computer monitors with an ashtray sitting on both sides of the desk. An American flag perched on a pole in the left corner with the army insignia opposite.

“What can I do for you, ma’am?”

“Thanks for giving me the time. I—we. There’s a question about what’s going on upon the research floor. Do you know what is currently happening up there?”

“Hopefully research, Emma.” He stated, pausing before taking a drag from his half used cigarette. “I know our Henry is working hard towards answers to the unknown.”

 _Not helpful,_ Emma thought, watching him stare off into the distant wall. “So, you’ve seen what they’re experimenting on?”

“I sure have, Emma, and the government is thrilled with the results that Henry is producing.”

“Great, then you’ve must have heard about a concern with what they’re doing with, y’know, safety and sh-stuff?”

“Colonel Schaffer did say something around the same lines, that the experiments may have some adverse effects towards the researchers—“

“Wait, what—“

“—but rest assured, Lieutenant Lee has been with me and PIEP for years, I trust him with my life, Emma. And he has assured me personally that the work being done is has been going swell. It’s for the better of the nation after all.”

Emma had to consciously keep her mouth from falling open. Did she imply there was something weird going on with them? She definitely was talking more about the safety of herself and the others on the floor between them. Was must have had some ideas before Emma’s run in upstairs. The new piece of information set off a recording of Melissa in her mind. _That’s concerning._

She pulled a note Melissa and the crew jotted down before heading down and started to read straight off the scrap paper. Thankful since most of the background on him still didn’t make sense to Emma herself. “Uh, what about the things Hidgens’ did in the past?”

“Under close monitor of his assistants and Lieutenant Lee.”

“Haven’t they gotten pretty drastic up there? Y’know, with all the soundproofing and shit?”

“Ma’am,the United States was built on radical actions and progressive thoughts. Nothing is done without a bit of extreme.”

Emma chewed on her bottom lip. This wasn’t the way she thought the conversation was going to go. “How about knowing there’s still side effects with everyone else going on the island?”

“Mild side effects. I’ve only recorded 2 in the past month personally.” He said, stubbing the filter of his cigarette into a tray. “Emma, I have full faith in my team that we can progress in a safe, yet gainful manner. Before you know it, we’ll have the information we need and you’ll be able to get off this island with the boy.”

“Tim?”

“Him too. Then America will have records of information— a collection towards otherworldly data that no other country can compete with.” Smoke wafted from behind the monitors, dissipating into nothingness between the clenched fists the General held up in pride. “This is not just about us, Emma, but the greater good of the nation, nay, the world. It is just the beginning towards understanding the unexplainable.”

“You trust your team?”

“Yes ma’am.”

“Well,” she trailed shifting to the other armrest, “aren’t we also part of your team now? Me and the rest in CCPR? We just don’t dress like GI Joe all the time.”

The General considered it, nodding skeptically.

“That also means your team is concerned about the other half of the team. Leaders respect every team member, right?”

“Yes ma’am.” Another lit cigarette appeared in his hands like magic. Taking a deep breath, he burned half of the stick before blowing the smoke towards the window facing towards the woods towards the center of the island. “As a team member, and for good faith towards you and Colonel Schaffer, I’ll talk further with lieutenant Lee, at length to ensure all safety and wellness of our team is at a high priority. I ensure to recheck the documents of the experiments to see if there is any outliers towards the work and their behaviors.”

“And you’ll pull the plug if it’s not up to snuff?”

“Affirmative.”

Loyal is another word to add to the General’s characteristics. He had a lot of trust in the Lieutenant and how he runs his people. Trust stronger than one Emma’s ever felt that’s for sure. She’s certain she brought up everything that the tech team had given for her to bring up yet she can’t tell if the answers she got were promising or just a compromise to get her out of the office. That’s what America was really built on. Compromises and radical moves. Or maybe compromise and passing off responsibility until it’s time to blame someone for the fault that’s resulted.

Melissa gave Emma a smile as she entered back upstairs. “So, how’d it go?”

How did it go? “He said he’ll take a further look into it. Talk with the Lieutenant and look through the experiment notes.”

“That’s it?”

“That’s it.”

“That doesn’t sound like much.”

Emma dropped into another chair near Melissa, letting out a huff. “He said he trusts Lee with his life.”

Melissa frowned.

“And I tried, I really tried to get your guys’ point across and brought up all the points. He just trusts that the system he has works and that it’s for the good of the world.” A scoff sounded from somewhere around the cubicles, probably from a mustachioed face that was creeping on the conversation. Emma shrugged, this was definitely pushing further out of her job description than before. Melissa sagged in her chair, tapping her fingers nervously against her laptop. “Hey, we’ll keep at it, I guess, right? He said Christy has brought it up to him too. And the Lieutenant seems to be with it. Hidgens can only be as crazy as they let him. They must have him on a short leash already.”

Her boss didn’t look convinced but nodded nevertheless. “Alright. Okay, we’ll just try to stay out of their way or something. I don’t want to make people think we’re more paranoid. You don’t think we’re just being paranoid, do you?”

Emma shook her head vehemently, leaning up onto the desk. “No. Precautions aren’t paranoia. I get it, better safe, right? It’s not a normal situation. You guys have already been through a shit show.”

Melissa smiled, placing a hand on top of Emma’s. Years ago, she’d worry how someone would use this against her in the future. How this connection that she’s creating would eventually be torn apart taking a bit of her insides with it. She wouldn’t have even had done the meeting because Emma surely was no mediator. Just stubborn, hardheaded Emma. Emma that would probably have brushed this off and gotten home and maybe packed up before she even knew what she was doing.

But at that moment, she gave her boss, someone she would probably call her friend, a reassuring smile, placing her hand on top of the younger woman’s and giving it a strong squeeze, promising that everything will be okay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m really playing a bit more into how loyal and a bit of a goof McNamera seemed in the first musical, and less about how prepared he was in the second. No offense to McNamera, I like his character, but really, the government is not what he thinks it is.


	18. Chapter 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ted scowled, grumbling about the levels of fun in the office but the rest of them paid no mind. He did have a point, bringing the General in only seemed to increase the abilities they have upstairs. Emma hadn’t bothered to try to check on whatever was happening on the roof. They built a two way mail slat at the stairway entrance so neither of them ever had to interact anymore. Papers were left both of them with a little moon dust coating the outside and that’s it anymore.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, anything that’s in bold is stuff that’s going to be stuff completely new and hasn’t been referenced yet in this like totally unedited story that I’ve pretty much write and slap onto here before reading. Pretty soon, I’m going to be going back through the chapters and adding stuff **in bold** to signify that it’s a new thing written in it. I think by the end of this thing, I’m going to be taking it out of a chapter based writing style and put it all in one giant file. Or do you think that’s a bad idea? 
> 
> Sorry I edit stuff so much to add and just mix up everything that you’ve already read. maybe the ending will make it up to y’all lol

“Try and try and the world’s always gonna slap your ass.”

“That...I don’t like that.”

“Well it’s true. We report the fucking loon and he gets a goddamn promotion. They trash the fourth floor, they get the whole roof to play on. He’s a golden child, he can’t do any wrong.”

“Yeah, sure, but please don’t say the world is slapping my ass.”

“Fine, ya prude. However you wanna say it. The government doesn’t care about anything but the end results. And Hidgens is gonna make them some big bucks once he does whatever the hell he’s doing up there. Once that happens there gonna drop the rest of the island like a hot pie and probably just wipe our memories or something.”

“That’s the plot of _Men in Black_.”

“How do you know? Could be a real thing.”

“Ted, you’re just being ridiculous now.”

“They’re building a gateway to hell upstairs and you think I’m being ridiculous?”

“Boys.” Melissa groaned, dropping her head dramatically onto her keyboard. “Ted, you’ve been going on about this all day. Give it a rest.”

“Melissa, you gotta be on my side, something’s up.” He pressed.

“Sure I do, no one’s fighting against you about that, Tedward. It’s all the stupid stuff you’re saying that we’re complaining about. I just want some quiet for one moment today.”

“She’s right, Ted. Let’s just pick up a different subject, okay? There’s barely an hour left.”

“Like what?”

Bill shrugged. “Frankly at this point I’d take you making fun of me over the world slapping my ass.”

“Well too bad for you, I’m not frank and you’re too boring.”

“There’s always those headphones chilling in the stairway.” Emma reminded.

“They won’t be sound proof enough I’m afraid. But thanks for the tip, Emma.”

Ted scowled, grumbling about the levels of fun in the office but the rest of them paid no mind. He did have a point, bringing the General in only seemed to increase the abilities they have upstairs. Emma hadn’t bothered to try to check on whatever was happening on the roof. They built a two way mail slat at the stairway entrance so neither of them ever had to interact anymore. Papers were left both of them with a little moon dust coating the outside and that’s it anymore.

The research team got a platter of possibilities served to them without even asking for it. Two floors and more budget for what? Speakers and a fucking dome to make space on earth? It was starting to carve a pit into her stomach, whatever happened next falls onto her shoulders. Their new freedom was her fault. She just had to go say something. Her whole team was on edge. Ted could probably crack at any moment now. If Hidgens didn’t explode the office first, the tech team might tear it down instead.

Both Emma and Paul escaped the floor as soon as they could to get away from Ted’s stream of conscious. The quiet hum of the elevator was welcoming compared to the third floor. It was a comfortable silence they shared. They’ve fallen into a nice routine that Ted would probably make fun of them for if he wasn’t too busy worrying about Hidgens and his assistants. They spent time outside of work together, would eat lunch together, sometimes Paul would even sleep on Emma’s couch on bad nights when the night a little too fast and his mind wandered places he tried to board up.

The night before was another coffee at Tim and Emma’s where they discussed the intricacies of Back to the Future during Tim’s first viewing. Paul was way more into it than Emma could ever imagine getting into a movie, but that’s also coming from the guy who is afraid of the musical _Phantom of the Opera_. Emma couldn’t stop herself from bringing it up again which led to another tangent about how _Back to the Future_ is the best cinematic film in the past 50 years, but once they stepped outside, Paul was cut off as a paper fell from the sky almost slapping him in the face. Emma laughed and pointed watching him try to catch the sheet. Squinting up, she saw the dozens of papers falling from above, dancing down from the roof above.

“Looks like they didn’t account for the wind up there.” Emma snorted, picking one up from the ground, “serves them right.” The letters and numbers didn’t make any sense to her. Lines crisscrossed and curved to create something closer to a sewing pattern than something scientific.

“This paper looks like a kid drawing.” Paul muttered, facing it towards Emma. Pen strokes curved around the edges with the center kept clean, near the bottom, wavy lines like octopus tentacles shaded over top the gradient. Like a dark tunnel looking towards the light.

“Maybe that’s what they do when they’re bored.” Emma snorted, going to pick up a few papers near her. “Should probably run this up to them, you think?”

Paul grimaced. “I—uh. I’m okay, but I’ll wait for you.”

“Oh c’mon, it’ll just be—“ Emma started before something smacked the top of her head. A few seconds later a hard hit stung against her back. “Fuck, ow. What the fuck.”

“Oh my god, are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fucking fine.” She grunted, looking down to see a short cable sitting on the ground. Sleek black with a small jack, it looked like an auxiliary cord one would plug into a speaker. “You gotta be fucking kidding me.” They both looked up at the roof again. Not a person to be seen but a few other pieces of litter flying off the side. “Those shit bags.”

Paul was trying hard to keep his face straight, a hint of a smile showing from the creases next to his eyes. “I guess that’s payback for your threat earlier in the year.”

“That fucking asshole.” The cord snapped tight between both hands as she tried to calm her rage. Paul snorted next to her. “Keep laughing and that threat extends to you.”

He coughed, trying to cover the laugh that escaped his mouth before waving his hands up in defeat. “Okay, sorry. Just got to respect irony, y’know?” Emma pouted her lips to try to stay mad. “So, those papers?”

She took a slow breath. “Okay, okay.” Emma crouched down, grabbing and crumpling papers into her hands quickly. “Yeah, no that’s not happening. If these are fucking important they cane come get them.” She straightened up trying and failing to shuffle them into a neat stack. “Or y’know what? They can wait for them tomorrow. Because it’s fucking 4pm and I’m not working anymore. Fuck that.”

“Yeah, fuck them.”

“You’ll get them tomorrow you fuck face!” She shouted into the air. Paul chuckled, looking around carefully to see if anyone was watching. Thankfully Emma was already over her tirade before Melissa and Colonel Schaffer came out the front doors. Paul gave a timid wave, blushing as Emma grumbled more swear words that they could definitely hear.

“H-hi there.”

“Paul, Emma.” The Colonel nodded. Paul waved, bumping his shoulder into Emma’s.

“Hope that asshole makes copies of his stupid drawings.” Emma fumed.

“O-Kay then.” Melissa giggled, “having a hard time?”

Emma glared between her and Paul. “This is Ted’s fault. And Hidgens’. I’m gonna shove rocks in both of their mailboxes.”

“That’s not going to make sense for Ted.” Paul added, getting another glare. Just the right amount serious and sarcasm to get her pointless anger across. “Okay.” He took a step back, giving a awkward smile between Melissa and the Colonel. “Okay. How about I give you a ride home, get you home and there’ll be nothing better.”

“Thank god.” She muttered, jamming the papers into her bag. “Or I’m gonna get hit with some meatballs from the sky next.”

Melissa wrapped an arm around Emma’s elbow, leaning into her as she laughed. “I’m so glad you’re here. You’re way cooler than the boys.”

“Hey.” Paul frowned sarcastically.

“You know it’s true.” She rested her head on the other woman’s shoulder letting go. “See you tomorrow!”

They waved as Melissa linked arms with the Colonel who nodded once more before heading to a car parked on the side of the street. Paul smirked at Emma. “C’mon before something else is chucked off the roof.” She stuck her tongue out before following him to his car.

“How much money do you bet that it was on purpose.”

“Hidgens’ may be crazy but he isn’t that malicious.” Paul retorted. “I don’t think he really thinks of other people besides whatever he’s doing. Y’know, the megalomaniac trait those smart people have sometimes? I think he has that.”

“You just don’t want to bet because we told Ted it was rude to gamble.”

“Do you want to hear Ted complain about that next?”

Emma sighed loudly, rubbing her back into the passenger seat. That’s definitely going to leave a bruise. “Okay fine. Maybe it was Grace since she was fired from her babysitting job.”

“I thought you liked Grace.”

“Doesn’t mean she doesn’t like me.”

“Alright now, let’s leave the conspiracies to Ted.”

“Okay, okay...Only if you pick me up tomorrow now too.”

Paul snorted. “Damn, you’re a hard negotiator Emma.” A toothy smile grew as she gave him a stupid hand sign. 

“When you work from the best you pick things up.” She was losing her steam most of her rage left at the office entrance. They pulled into Tim and Emma’s driveway and she collected her crinkling bag. “Thanks for the ride.”

“No problem. You would have road raged your bike into a hit and run.”

“Goodbye Paul.” She slammed the door shut, giving him a big wave as she feigned a frown. Emma didn’t wait for a reply but knew he was laughing inside his car.

Tim was already home, putting the milk back into the fridge as Emma walked inside. “Hello.”

“Hey bud. How was school?”

“Boring. How was work?”

“Annoying. You wanna trade?” Emma asked dropping her bag onto the dining table with more crumpling sounds before just grabbing a handful of pages and tossing them onto the table. The pages, half folded and torn settled to slowly opening up as Emma considered just throwing them away out of spite. “What do you want for dinner?”

“I dunno. Can we have Mac’n’Cheese? The cheesy blue box stuff?”

“Kraft? Sure.” She chuckled, going through the pantry for a box. “You need any help with your homework tonight?”

“Dunno.” He hopped towards his bag in the dining chair and started to rummage through it. It sounded like Emma’s bag before throwing all the experiment papers out of it. “You don’t like math so...” Tim trailed.

“Yeah, sorry bud. Probably can’t help you much with that.” She called setting the pot filled with water onto the stove.

“I think I grabbed Hannah’s stuff though?” Emma turned to lean on the counter and saw Tim’s added more papers to the crumpled stack she started. Way too much paper was now on the desk, definitely too much to eat at the table with. She came over and started to help sorting between the two messes to put her papers neatly into her bag. She held up the tunnel picture, straightening it out against the edge of the table. “Wait that’s Hannah’s drawings, I think I grabbed them.”

“Oh, these are from work. Someone was throwing papers and I took them.”

Tim scrunched his face. “Are you sure? Because Hannah was definitely drawing something exactly like that.” Tim leaned in further to look at the page. Reaching across the table he grabbed another crumpled paper, one with rounded waves with straight lines cutting it horizontally, edges darkened again. The water looked more like a rollercoaster but the lines were too jagged to be anything else. “She had something like that too.”

Emma pursed her lips, staring at the pages held in front of her. “Does this look like your kind of homework?” She held up another page with the numbers and letters scribbled across it. Tim shook his head. Emma took both drawings in her hands and flipped them over, more equations on the back but what looked like large ink stains that were smeared on by someone’s hands. “Huh...you sure Hannah drew these?”

Tim squinted closer. “I guess not, I dunno, hers had words and stuff on them.”

“What’d they say?”

“Just like, random words. Like ‘the king is coming’, ‘a triangle points’ ‘networks open’ some other stuff like that.” Emma cocked her head and Tim shrugged, scratching at the back of his neck. “Sometimes she doesn’t write in complete sentences, but It’s kind of cool. It almost sounds like band names or a horror movie or something.”

 _That’s concerning_ , Melissa may as well be Emma’s inner thoughts at this point. She’s heard of those phrases before, **when they liked to talk together or when Emma threatened Hidgens when he was blasting that music before** , they weren’t normal phrases a 12 year old would be reciting, or putting on pictures that look exactly like the crazy scientists documentations.

“Hannah doesn’t have like, a dad that works at the same place I do, does she?”

Tim shook his head again. “No, it’s just her and Lex. She’s a real adult.”

“Okay, no worries, that’s cool...” Emma trailed. Even Paul didn’t know what he was talking about when they chanted together. He called it a side effect, something that was left over from the weird mind control stuff. “She ever say much about her drawing?”

“Not early, she only does it when she’s having a bad day.”

“Huh.”

Sizzling erupted from behind them, Emma jumped, remembering she turned water on to boil and ran to lower the heat. She mopped up some of the water around the heating element before turning back to Tim. “This is going to sound really weird, but remember that time you said she predicted that power outage?” He nodded, taking a seat at the bar. “Well, there’s weird things going on at work, like Hatchetfield weird, not normal weird, and she may have another clue to what’s going on. You think you can invite her over? You guys can hang after and stuff, but I just would like to have her input, if that’s alright? You think that’d be weird.”

Tim rolled his head from side to side. “She really likes you. Hannah’s always happy to see you so I don’t think that’ll be real weird. I’ll ask her to come over tomorrow.”

“Thanks Tim. Now I gotta focus on this or I’ll burn the house down.”

He laughed, already jumping back down from the stool. “Okay I’ll give you a few minutes. I’m gonna put on one of those DVDs Paul left here.”

Speaking of Paul, she grabbed her phone and texted him to pick her up early. She needed to get him on the same page before going back into the office.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, NOW we’re getting somewhere. Remember, bold things are things that are being added into the whole story that you probably haven’t read before (since they haven’t been added yet lol) but i think it’ll be more fun adding the weird things, like the hints Hannah has and them talking in sync and stuff, all those weird side effects, but it’ll take a while to really edit it. I’ll probably put another update in the main summary profile of this saying that bold things have been added. 
> 
> Sorry for all the notes. Hope you enjoyed this!


	19. Chapter 19

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “If that ain’t some Hatchetfield weird shit then I don’t know what is.”
> 
> Paul parked at the office, slouching back into the driver’s seat as he absorbed all what Emma had described from Tim and his friend Hannah. His cheeks puffed out as he sighed. “That is Hatchetfield weird.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here’s a long one for you. This one is jammed pack with info!

“If that ain’t some Hatchetfield weird shit then I don’t know what is.”

Paul parked at the office, slouching back into the driver’s seat as he absorbed all what Emma had described from Tim and his friend Hannah. His cheeks puffed out as he sighed. “That is Hatchetfield weird.”

“Have you heard of that happening before?”

“Nope. That’s a new one.”

“And when I looked closer to some of the math looking pages it kept referencing the equations to a gateway.”

“Gateway...to where?”

That I don’t know, but I’m thinking of going up there and grabbing more notes.”

Paul grimaced, tugging at the knot of his tie. “I don’t know, Emma. It doesn’t sound very safe up there, it’s probably only gotten worse since you were last up.”

She hummed in response, remembering the last time she was in the lab and how mind numbing it was being around whatever they created. How entrancing it was just being around the formation. Reality bending time between when she entered and exited. He had a point. “You think we could get into the Lieutenant’s stuff?”

The seatbelt reeled back as he tilted his head in thought. “We do have passwords for all the users on our floor.”

“No shit.” Emma smirked, leaning in close.

Yeah, we’ve got key loggers on almost everything in Hatchetfield now.”

“Who watches them?”

“Luckily for you, I watch the office computers. The General knows me the best out of the tech team so I got put with watching them. you wouldn’t get caught technically, but you got to get him out of the second floor.”

“Yeah he’d be a problem staying around there. You should distract him.”

“What? Me? O-okay wait.” The door flung open and Emma raced to follow him out of the car. “I don’t think I’d be a good person for that.”

“Sure you would! You just said he liked you. He knows we think somethings going on. Put your two cents in and it’ll get him talking. As long as he has more than 15 minutes of free time today we can plan a heist.”

Paul rubbed the back of his neck pacing in a circle. Sidling up next to him, she nudged him gently. “C’mon we gotta do something.”

Stopping, he pursed his lips, bright blue eyes flashed emotions too quickly for her to read before settling on reluctance. “Okay. I’ll find out when he’s free today and set up to go get coffee... or something.”

Emma patted him on the chest with a smile as she began to stroll towards the entrance. “Great, I’ll come down the same time and try to get Xander out of there and get into his computer.”

The nod he gave wasn’t that confident and he almost tripped out the elevator onto the second floor but he still gave her a thumbs up as the doors slid shut. 

Emma smiled, she looked happy though her heart pounded hard in her chest. There wasn’t anything specific yet to give her a reason to be weary, but something gnawing deep in her mind told reminded her that apprehension is the best survival instinct. Surrounded by hostile enemies, the best position to be is crouched, ready to pounce. She wondered what she would say to Hannah later tonight? _Hi I know I only see you when you come to hang with Tim but he said you’ve been drawing weird things and those drawings look exactly the same as from my crazy scientist that works with me? Can you tell me what they mean?_ The situation alone is enough to scare the shy kid away from ever hanging out with Tim again but if it’s true that she’s told him about events that didn’t happen yet, like the power outage from earlier this year, then maybe it won’t be a surprise. Maybe all the things the little girls’ said to her will come together to make sense? Isn’t that how these stories go? All the clues get pieced together and the good guys win, right? There was a quiet reminder, a deja vu that reminds her that she’s never picked the right action. Every choice she’s made has led her down a path that’s turned out just as disappointing than the one before. Just because the environments changed, does that mean she’s actually changed her ways too?

Paul dropped down into his seat at the desk next to Emma, taking a big sigh as he scratched at the back of his head. “2:30, we’re going to get coffee.” He popped another thumbs up with an over exaggerated smile.

Emma smiled, returning the gesture. Better a step ahead than the last one to know.

The General and Paul exited to the elevators by 2:32 and Emma slipped out from her hiding spot in the stairwell and rushed to peek into the military office. Even better than what she expected, no one was in there. She brought some prop reports just incase she got questioned and dropped them on his desk, thumbing to the sticky note Paul wrote the password on to get into his computer. The login was slow, Emma sitting low into the cubicle as she listened intently for any doors or footsteps to sound around her. She glanced anxiously over her shoulders as the desktop appeared. A standard background with the minimum amount of shortcuts sat on the home screen. Clicking around, she got into the file explorer to see how he named his files.

“Fuck.” They weren’t labeled the way she was hoping, with hoping for names, department titles, digging into a folder those themselves didn’t look like descriptors either. Number and capitalized letters connected together that probably stood for something but to Emma looked like another code to crack.

Thump, thump. She stood, still crouched at the desk, ready to bolt towards another desk to pretend to drop off the papers in her hands. Perfectly still with her hand hovering over the power button of the Lieutenant’s computer as she waited to hear anything else. More than a few seconds passed without anything other sounds and she slowly fell back into the seat looking back into the files. 

Most files were text based, all scattered in different organizing files in different overarching compartments. Emma wished she was better with computers. She went to the recently used helper tab and changed it to show as last saved. Tens to hundreds of files were loading up judging by the progressing green bar at the top and without any other clue, she just started to click things open.

Two files loaded in front of her, one filled with equations and dot graphs that wasn’t comphernsible to her. The other looked like a budgeting page for new equipment, more soundproofing, wires, batteries, and portable speakers. It wasn’t exactly what she’s looking for but she printed it for prosperity. The sound of the printer warming up made her jump out of the seat again, the chair flying back into the wall behind her. Besides the new hum and tick of the ink there wasn’t anything else to be worried about.

“Pull it the fuck together, Perkins.” She grumbled, forgetting about the chair and going back to opening files. Most all the text files fell into three categories, memos, equations or math looking things, and budgeting pages. There were ones to Hidgens’ but they were mainly about going ahead with whatever he was doing or say thing that he had more things coming for supplies. She flung the scroll wheel driving her back to dates she wouldn’t be able to remember specifically what was going on. Clicked three that sung to her and hoped for the best. Two of them opened with pages looking like waves or heartbeat monitors, but the third made her fist pump.

_Memo: RE: Power Outage Caused by Research/Development_

She skimmed the first few sentences. It was a form of an apology to the General about the power outage that happened those months ago. It talked about the power consumption and overload from high levels of electromagnetic waves patterns that came from the fourth floor. _Though the island lost power for approximately 9 hours, the scientist Hidgens was able to create a form of communication and response prompted by articles from STARLIGHT and LAKESIDE combined. In the two days that have passed Hidgens has been able to create a system to create dialogue between the formations shapes..._

Communication means sentience. Sentience means that floating rocks and weird fabric-y flesh were not just random spores or animals but something bigger, smarter. A possible being that he was starting to talk to.

This is it! A first step but one that shows tells Emma that there’s more than just floating rock upstairs. The printer whirred some more and started to spit out the memo. She clicked on things coming right after the memo and started scrolling towards the present.

Another document, soon after the memo popped up telling of the experiment and of the short conversations they were able to make.

Further analyses and more and more budgeting plans popped up between after that, only giving what read as “Experiment ——— Incident Documentation” had a report style write up about things that were going on, but they were few and far between, as these documents were memos still being sent to the General.

She looked at the clock, it’s already been 20 minutes. Emma held her breath as she scrolled up towards the present date and started looking for these incident documentations to get the most recent report. The document dates were much more spread out, only two or three a week compared to the one or two a day. Most of them had only a few words written on them like notes to himself. Some were scans of equations, shapes and drawings that looked like the ones that fell from the roof the day prior.

Keeping track of things she’s already was becoming harder as the closer it was to the end of the half hour. She was working faster than her motor controls could, missing the ones she wanted to click on and almost saving random button pushes she accidentally added into the documents. Focus, Emma breathed again, she was about to lose her chance.

“Emma, did you lose your way to your office?”

Emma blanched, almost throwing the mouse as she turned to see the Colonel behind her, standing at attention. “Fucking shit.”

“My apologies, wasn’t expecting anyone other than the General around here at this time.”

“I, uh, I—“ Fuck, Emma was beginning to blow her cover, anything she said at this point would sound extremely fake with the reaction she first gave her. Schaffer looked down at her with her normal stern exterior. She remembered the General mentioning that Schaffer too was concerned about what was going on upstairs. Would she be on her side if Emma told her? She’s already lost so much credibility standing her in the silence.

Worth a shot.

Emma exhaled slowly, straightening up before explaining. “Colonel. Something weird is going on in research and it’s starting to worry even me. The others are honestly freaking out. And from the things I’ve seen upstairs already I don’t think the government has control anymore. I’m just trying to keep everyone safe.” 

The Colonel cocked her head, jutting her chin out towards Emma, who felt like she was shrinking. Her expression hasn’t changed and Emma was staring to sweat. It was for her not to fill the prickling silence. “I know from what you learned about me coming here I sound like a shit, flaky person who didn’t make good decisions, but I’ve actually made friends here and I care about what would happen to Tim and the longer this is going on the worse it’s sitting inside my gut.”

Schaffer’s jaw clenched behind her lips before she clicked her tongue, stepping towards Emma. The assistant’s shoulders sagged, ready to be reprimanded, maybe thrown in jail, if they even had one here on the island anymore.

A hand landed on her shoulder. 

Who’s gonna look after Tim now?

Emma was pushed, taking a step to the side and listening to the Colonel click on the computer. Rocks were settling in the pit of her stomach for the minute it was taking for her to get the computer in order. The Colonel then stepped back before and strode to the other side of Emma, logging into her own computer. She took a chance to look at what Schaffer was doing. Pulled up on her own desktop was PDF files of what seemed to be scanned pages of equations and scribbles that looked similar to the ones that flew from the roof yesterday. The printer started to purr yet again as the Colonel stood up straight and started collecting pages from both the printers.

“I didn’t see you. And you didn’t see what’s in my computer.” She said in a low, gruff voice.

“You’ve been watching them too?”

“National safety supersedes progress. Without the nation there would be no need.” A smile quirked across her face before she handed the pages to Emma. Still standing astonished, it took her a second to reach for the pages. “Don’t lose them. And don’t come back down here without real reports.”

“Y-yes. Okay. I mean, yes Ma’am. Thank you ma’am.” Emma sputtered before stacking her fake reports of blank papers on top of the others and rushing towards the door. She turned back for a quick moment to give the Colonel a good look and return a smile before rushing up to the third floor.

The stack of papers, maybe forty in total stack heavy on her desk, glaring towards her, teasing her to take a peek, but she didn’t want to risk it. Not here, where anyone could walk up. Her and Paul could go through it tonight. The thought floated in her mind. Would Paul even want to see this? Or was he just playing along to get her what she needed? Would this push him back into that terrible day that he died?

As if commanded, Paul appeared next to her, spinning towards her in his chair. “D-did you get it?” He whispered.

She nodded slowly, staring at the stack of papers to her right that were shoved into the first empty folder she could fined. Paul audibly gulped fingers tapping aimlessly against his desk. “Have you...looked?”

Another shake, his tapping was gaining tempo as he foot halved the beat. Emma took in a deep breath and shoved the papers up to the corner, trying to get it out of both of their views. She turned to him with a serious face. “I’m going to look over a coffee at home. You don’t have to come if it’s too much.”

There was a small sheen of sweat forming over his forehead, Paul clenched his hands, trying to stop the rhythm he created as he thought about her offer. After a few seconds, he gave a hesitant nod. “I, uh. Yeah, I want to know too.”

“Okay, give me a ride home and we’ll get at it.”

Emma was starting to realize they shared a lot of quiet car rides, between her and Paul. This one was much tenser than before, the air grave like when he told her about the meteor crash but less somber. Tim wasn’t home when they got back which gave Emma the ability to just start splaying out all the pages she had on both the counter and dining table. Schaffer was keeping strong tabs on her pattern. Scanned pages of documents, memos, handwritten notes were all combined in what looked to be chronological order. Paul picked up a random page near the beginning and started to skim through the hard to read scrawl, squinting close.

“Sentient entity can give yes and no through rotations of large particles in the field. Clockwise yes, stopping no, neutral position counterclockwise rotations.” Emma passed him the page to the left of the one he was holding. A crudely drawn image of a box cut diagonally to show it’s contents. Dots and circles drawn to show the formation she saw the time he blasted music throughout the office. “Can you understand me? Yes. Can you prove this by giving me a yes, then a no. Yes. No. Are you from Earth? No. Are you alien? No. Are you from space? Yes and no.”

Emma picked up another page near the center. A drawing of a large formation than the one Paul was holding instead of just the almost crop circle and particles that formed in the first one, this one had a dark center, filled in with pen with a fade into nothingness at the exact center.

“Are you a single entity? No. Are you one of a multitude of the same kind? No. Are the other entities different from you? Yes.” Paul sat the pages back down.

There’s a hand written message that looks to be from Hidgens. He describes the entity coming from another plane. This singular entity has a strong hold, almost godlike abilities on this plane and can manipulate time and space to it’s will. Hidgens says how the entity is dying there, being forced out by another like entity.

“Fourth incident. Light sounds such as chimes and the glockenspiel give the form a larger diameter. The low resonating bass continues to make it thrive, as different pulses of beats, such as a bass drum make it waver in liveliness. Human words give no specific response but it prefers the voices to just sounds.”

Tim appeared behind Emma at one point as she threw tore up pages that just held equations with no other words or phrases to focus in. “What’s this?”

“Kind of like journal entries.”

“Who’s is it?”

“Guy from work.” Emma shook her head. Why was she telling Tim this? “It’s pretty, uh, dark stuff—“

“Is this what you wanted Hannah to see?” Tim asked, picking up some of the drawings. One near the end that looked like eyes in the darkness. Another he traced his fingers over that was close to the dark tunnel drawing he saw yesterday.

Emma nodded. “Yeah, it is. I just want her opinion. You guys don’t have to be around after that. It’s...kind of adult stuff.”

He wasn’t facing her, but she could tell from his shoulders that he was rolling his eyes. Tim glanced over his shoulder, looking at her almost perturbed. “Haven’t heard that one before.”

“Tim, y’know the meteor stuff? And the mall fire? Those papers you read when I first came around. It’s kind of about that stuff.” He perked up around the mall fire. “But that stuff was dangerous, and I wouldn’t be surprised if this was too.”

“Does it say what killed dad?”

Emma’s shoulders sagged. “I doubt it, bud. This is something different, something new.”

“Oh.” Tim looked back down to the drawing in his hands.

Paul had walked off and out to the back porch, getting the sense that this was a moment they needed alone. Emma crouched down to get even with his face, though he was already at her shoulders as a preteen, she came in close, placing hands on his shoulders gently. “I know you didn’t know much about what happened with your dad. But, was it worse not knowing or finding out what happened?”

“I dunno.” He shrugged. “It was nice to not have to worry about if he died in the fire or before. And it was nice talking about it with you after.”

“Okay, that’s good.That’s really good. I, I don’t really know much about this stuff either, but this stuff isn’t painful like that, but so far, it sounds more, like, scary? Like monster scary.”

“I’m not afraid of monsters.” Emma gave him a side eye before he sputtered, “maybe that meteor crash stuff was pretty scary.”

Emma gave a thin smile, rubbing her fingers down her temple. Tim was only 12. This stuff sounds bad enough to traumatize her 30 year old ass, let alone someone that’s already gone through the biggest tragedies in his life. But there was pit opening in Emma’s gut that wasn’t going away, getting bigger and bigger the more she’s reading, and if something has to be done about this, he has the right to know if she disappears just like his dad.

“Can you let me have tonight to get more information, put things in like a line or essay form and then I can tell you all about it tomorrow?”

Tim puckered his lips, eyes big as saucers as they danced between both of Emmas. He looked so much like Jane, the freckles across his round nose, dark eyelashes against his lighter brown eyes. It was almost uncanny this close up to him. She looked back to his eyes when he started nodding. “Okay.”

“Okay.” Emma repeated. “I promise I’m gonna figure this out tonight. I won’t hold Hannah too long and you guys can hang and I’ll make chicken nuggets, yeah?” Another nod. She almost felt like an idiot now only noticing that he was the only person shorter than her present in the house. “Where is Hannah?”

“Her sister is driving her here. She had a bad day and didn’t want to ride the bus.”

“Alright. You don’t have to, like, go up in your room or anything, just, hold onto the questions until tomorrow, deal?”

“Deal.”

She smiled, giving him a pat on the cheek and a kiss on the top of his head before standing back up straight to ease the stress off her back. Tim’s thin smile hurt her a little, but she knew it was for the better at this time. He rounded into the living room and she turned back to the pages on the desk, grabbing another document written by Hidgens.

_I’ve been able to lay small objects near the center light that, with a kHtz of 74, can transport said object out of the center. Communication with entity shows that they do receive it, but cannot specify where due to simple communication methods. At low Htz 29, object reappears._

Paul was still outside, she opened the slider, about to tell him about what she assumed was the gateway they learned about yesterday but he was already talking.

“Seventh Incident: At higher decibels communication can be established. The level should be enough to make humans deaf but if prepared at this level and headphones removed then instead of as the loudness increases the entity can be heard. Crude human English, words that have already been established during prior experiments by researchers could be repeated back.” He paced back and forth flipping through a few other pages he had. “Eighth Incident: Increasing the area of condensed sound creates a visual. Visual is dark but there are bright white/yellow circles sitting horizontal to each other, assumed to be eyes.”

“This one talks about being able to put things into that plane and back at different levels of sound.”

Paul nodded ecstatically flipping to another page. “Fourteenth Incident: Researcher Henry Hidgens able to transport self into other plane!” He was almost shouting before Emma gestured for him to come back into the house. “Researcher reports being in there for what felt like fifteen minutes but was gone for two hours. Reports after meeting entity which refused to be named communication increased to conversational level. Researcher reports entity as pleasant, polite, and seeking escape from another entity that is slowly eating away at his force.”

A small knock came from the back door. Paul almost choked on his words as he hurried to stop talking, looking terrified at the door. “It’s probably Hannah.” Emma reminded him.

There she stood, in her overalls and striped shirt. The hat sat backwards on her head and she wore a large frown. Behind her was Lex, her sister that they met way back at the school. “Hi, sorry she’s not in a good mood and doesn’t want to stay long but insisted on still coming.”

“That’s okay, come in.” The two girls walked in and Hannah all but rushed to the table, looking at the pages laid out.

Lex sidled up next to Emma. “Listen, I think I got to tell you something because front he looks of it, you’re looking at stuff that she’s been into.” He rocked from foot to foot, pulling up the large sleeves away from her hands. “We were actually at the Lakeside fires. Like, inside when it happened.”

Emma looked up to her checking for a bluff but the young girl could only nod, pulling out something from her jacket pocket. It was a name tag, with her name under ToyZone, with a drawn on smiley face. Flecks of red were chipping off that was too flaky to be nail polish. “They said there weren’t any survivors but there were three. Me, my sister, and Becky Barnes.”

“No way, I know Becky Barnes. I went to school with her.”

“That’s Hatchetfield. Everyone knows everyone.” She shrugged with a glum smile. “But anyways. Those drawings, the things Hannah says sometimes, those a lot of that had to do with what happened at the mall. The military never found out, she refused to talk to them at all but if you’re starting to line up with her that probably means bad shit is coming man.”

From the corner of Emma’s eyes she could see Paul looking towards her with a grim look but he couldn’t make it over to them to state his case as Hannah was walking him around the table by hand as she pointed at different things and saying one to two words.

“Maybe if we do something before bad shit happens then it won’t get that far.” Emma said.

The teen shrugged, jamming the pin back into her pocket. “Don’t know, dude. But I did learn that there’s something bad out there. That wants people and like, hypnotizes them, tells them things they want, and—“

“Gets them to spread it’s word.” Paul called out, taking a paper from Hannah’s hand. “The entity is pleased to be introduced to Lieutenant Xander Lee. It is enraptured with the idea of having more ‘friends’ and continues to ask for guests. So far no human has had poor responses towards the entity.”

“Networks open.” Hannah replied, pointing towards the drawing of the eyes coming out of the tunnel. “It’s close.”

“They said it’s nice? Are we sure it’s the same as what you guys ran into?”

“Wiggly was nice. He talked nice. He was not nice. Mean. Bad.”

“It told you thinks you wanted to hear to get you close but that thing wanted out of wherever it was.” Lex added.

Paul nodded. “The hive said it was for everyone’s betterment but didn’t care that it was killing the lives inside the bodies.”

Emma moved near the table. “So, it just wants to live? Trying to escape what’s killing it but isn’t doing it in a way that is good for the humans too?”

“Not live, it wants life.”

“Emma, the hive, or the thing. They didn’t care that it was here. It wanted to take over. It wanted to make the world the way it wanted. They were hellbent on destroyed the humanity that it saw.” Hannah was still holding Paul’s hand, which he didn’t look too nervous about, but she nodded with everything he was saying.

“It wants to make this world like the one it’s leaving?”

Hannah pointed towards the end of the pages. Paul picked it up with his free hand. “Preparations are near complete to begin transportation of entity to this plane. Entity ecstatic, happy that the General has welcomed it to Hatchetfield. The three points must be established around the same time around the same time but do not need to be concurrent though must last to establish the strongest point. Could begin process within the next week.”

Emma frowned. “Is there a date?’

Paul shook his head. He looked pale, the paper shook slightly in his hand. Hannah looked less worried, but sad, forlorn as much as a child could be. She let go of Paul’s hand who gave her a small smile as she went back towards her older sister. “We should go. Come back tomorrow?”

Lex looked over to Emma who nodded. “Sure, that’s fine. I, um. I don’t really know what’s going to happen tomorrow—“

The little girl shrugged, adjusting her hat. “No one does.”

“Ah, yeah. How about you say hi to Tim quick before you go?” She smiled, skipping into the other room. Emma looked back over to Paul who was trying to loosen his tie to no avail. She reached up and did it for him, gently unbuttoning the top as he gulped for air.

“Thanks.” She nodded, listening to him trying to even out his breaths. “Should we tell Bill, Ted, Melissa?”

“I—Dunno.”

“If they have some of the military on their side,” Lex added, leaning back against the stove. “We had a gun. And I started the whole place on fire.”

“A-and I...died.”

“You’ll want people you trust.”

Emma agreed. “Yeah, we should get them in too, probably Schaffer too because she actually got these for me.”

“Tomorrow?”

“Another party tomorrow at my place.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a note the bold stuff I was talking about last chapter (which hasn’t started yet) won’t be like large parts of the story but like just small lines adding to the ambience and the side effect stuff that they probably run into. So you probably don’t have to go back and read other things if you’re already this far.


	20. Chapter 20

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emma wandered out of her room around 6am after submitting to the fact that she wasn’t going to get any sleep that day. She was almost surprised to find both Paul and Tim in the living room, watching cartoons at a low volume. A mock domestic scene if she ignored the impending doom that crept up her spine.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the break, I had a hard time writing this one and having difficulties with transitions from the prior to this to the next but we’re still movin!

The house was quiet once Emma and Paul created a rough narrative between all the pages they collected. Only the whispers of whatever movie plays at 1am drifting through the air. Rest never came that night, no matter the exhaustion that weighed down her body, her mind continued to crank and wear at the journals and memos. Documents that were most diary entries. Simple, almost conversational as Hidgens befriends a monster from another dimension. Moving from professional to barely legible script, slowly devolving into a cult mind as he recruited people from his assistants to the General to invite a king of planes to our world. What manipulation from a creature that was once a swatch of fabricated flesh. 

Emma wandered out of her room around 6am after submitting to the fact that she wasn’t going to get any sleep that day. She was almost surprised to find both Paul and Tim in the living room, watching cartoons at a low volume. A mock domestic scene if she ignored the impending doom that crept up her spine.

Three mugs hung haphazardly from her hands as she brought the others something warm. Coffee for Paul and hot chocolate for Tim. Emma plopped onto the couch next to Paul who muttered a thanks but winced when he made eye contact.

Emma snorted. “Good morning to you too.”

“Didn’t sleep?”

“Nope. You don’t look too hot either for the record.” She said, earning a huff in response. She turned to Tim next, watching for a second as he blew steam off his drink. “How long have you been up?”

He shrugged. “Dunno, maybe 3 or 4?” Tim looked a mess compared to how she usually ran into him in the morning. Even when his nightmares were at their peak, it wasn’t easy to tell he didn’t sleep well. The pale blue glow the TV cast on him made him look older than the boy she met almost a year ago. The baby fat mostly left his face, hair growing from the choppy kid cut his dad probably gave him that stuck out in ways that didn’t seem possible, he’s grown vertically too, almost standing eye to eye with Emma. Eyes that at that moment looked heavy for early morning.

“God, I think we need a day off.” Emma grumbled into her own mug. Paul chuckled next to her, rolling his head to look down at her.

“Take the day off then.” He suggested. “You worked hard enough. I can round up the troops and get them here after work.”

“You sure? They’re gonna come without any explanation?”

“I’ll tell Ted there’s beer and he’d probably be up for murder.”

Emma smiled. “We’ll call it a bonding day, right Tim?”

“Sure.”

Paul downed his coffee, groaning as he pulled himself off the couch. “I gotta head home and change before getting heading to work. I’ll give you a heads up with what’s going on?”

Emma gave him a thumbs up before he departed, leaving her and Tim with the soft murmurs of the television. She watched him out of the corner of her eye as he stared into his mug, rolling the liquid around the rim in thought. Emma readjusted to face towards him. “How’s it going over there?”

“I looked through all those papers you guys were going through yesterday.”

“Oh.”

“It doesn’t sound good.”

“Yeah, you’re not wrong.”

“And you’re going to do something about it?”

Emma took a beat. “I think we don’t have a choice anymore.”

Tim set his mug down hard on coffee table, rocking forward in his chair. “So you’re leaving just like dad did then.”

“No, no, Tim. This is...” Different? Was it really? Leaving him to do run off to try and fix things? Emma chewed the inside of her cheek. “It’s to stop it from getting to that point.”

“And dump me with a babysitter until some other army person shows up to hand me off to another person?“

“I would never—“

“How do you know?”

“Tim, I...I don’t know... There’s a monster being summoned onto the island. If we don’t do something who knows what could happen.”

“But you don’t have to be the one to do something about it!” Tim shouted, jabbing a finger towards Emma. “You choose now to think about others? I’ve been around what happens in Hatchetfield and you leave you’re not coming back.”

Ouch, that’s something she’s thought about before; all those years ago boarding the plane as her sister watched with tears in her eyes. Leaving and never coming back. But that was by her own volition and the regret that’s formed was by her own hand. Tim had no choice in the matter. His whole life has been handled by other people, decisions made without his say. He’s lost his mother then his father and if something were to happen to Emma, there would be no one left. She thought that preventing the creature from transporting to Earth was a step towards being selfless. Thinking of others, the greater good of humanity first before herself, but how selfless could she be leaving Tim with nobody on an island that’s become a paper town?

Tim’s face flicked with remorse as his words ran back through his mind. He settled back into the chair, smoothing his hands down his pajama pants. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it.”

Emma waved her hand, trying to put on a stoic face. “No...It’s okay. You’re right.” It wasn’t obvious to her that she’s been so cavalier about the whole situation, but it put her back in the mindset that sent her out of Michigan before. Thinking of her herself, her own actions, and how to fix things for her without considering how it affects others. She’d been so caught up in the supernatural, the unreal of the whole situation that she forgot why she even came back. To take care of the one thing of Jane’s that was left in the world. “You’re right. It’s not fair, and it’s dangerous and reckless.” 

“I didn’t mean to ruin everything—“

“Tim, you didn’t ruin anything. You haven’t done anything wrong.”

“It’s just, dangerous and dad was trained and didn’t even—“

“It’s okay, you don’t have to explain yourself. I get it.” Emma tried to give him a reassuring smile but he was having a hard time looking her way. She wondered what he was thinking now? Did he fear the regret he’d have if she’d died, just like his dad? Or was his fear actually losing her? Maybe it was a fear of him eventually following the same path of destruction that led most all his guardians away from him. “I won’t bother with it anymore.”

There was a small, meek voice inside her mind that wondered how Paul would take having to work at it on his own after working together for so long. Hopefully the others can help pick up the slack. “I won’t go with them. But I have to at least help Paul figure out what to do. I’ve already pulled him into this crap so far I can’t just abandon him without one last rally.”

He took a few seconds before nodding. “I know its...its...” Tim huffed, frustrated at becoming more and more conflicted the more he voices his concerns. “I dunno, the governments didn’t stop it the second time.”

“It’s inevitable?”

“Sure. I don’t know. There isn’t anything that can be done anyway.”

God, what if he’s right? Before was just a test, to see how simple it could be to take control of humanity, but this, this is a birth of a god, no, demon that wants to come and eat the world. Maybe this was just like Paul’s mission before, a suicide. One with even less hope than his previous martyrdom. “Maybe not...but then there’s nothing to lose with them trying.”

“I guess.”

The conversation lulled for a while, both drifting in and out of sleep until Emma finally pushed herself off the couch mid afternoon. They didn’t talk much through lunch. All the headway they made with their relationship seemed to have stalled if not gone back to when they first met.

She had received a text from Paul informing her of a time they would arrive after work when Tim sidled up next to her in the kitchen.

“Are you mad at me?” He asked quietly, watching his hands intently.

Emma looked over to him, he looked so small. “I’m not mad at you. I can’t be mad at you for not wanting to be alone.”

His brown eyes looked up to hers, eyes just like Jane’s, big and round. “I love you.”

It hurt her chest to hear, like a vice tightening around her heart, but it was a good pain. Like forgiveness she thought she lost the opportunity to get from her sister since she’s passed. Emma smiled, trying hard to keep her voice from wavering. “I love you too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How’re they gonna cope without their enforcer?
> 
> Hope you enjoyed. It should be a quicker turn around now (hopefully).


	21. Chapter 21

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “What, oh, a monster sends his little minions two years ago, then it’s second in command bombs the mall and now this monster god is trying to take over the earth and you’re worried I’m overreacting?”

The driveway was full a few hours later as Emma’s coworkers showed up to her house. Melissa and the Colonel, Bill, Ted, and Paul all stood awkwardly around her kitchen as she laid out pages they highlighted the night before. Lex and Hannah arrived somewhere in. Emma almost forgot that the two young girls were even coming after the whirlwind that was the past few days. The three youngest hung in the living room, not to crowd those who were just learning the new information. The Colonel took the lead, reading a lot of the information out loud as the others listened with frowns across their faces. 

Emma pulled Paul aside into the kitchen as the others rehashed the reveal and bringing him close, keeping her hand enclosed around his forearm as she spoke quietly to him. “Hey, listen, whatever happens next, I don’t think I’m going to be able to go and fight this thing with you guys.”

Paul’s face pinched as he nodded along. “Oh...okay.”

Emma sighed. “Yeah, I can’t leave Tim to deal with this shit. It’s, just, he can’t go through that again.”

“Okay.”

“He brought it up earlier and he’s, he wants me here. I gotta support him.”

“Emma.” Paul said in almost a whisper, placing a hand on her shoulder and squeezing gently. “It’s okay.”

She let go of the breath she was holding, her whole body relaxing under his hand. “Oh god, thank fuck. Seriously Paul, I’m sorry.”

His electric blue eyes were soft looking down at her, a small smile turning the corner of his lip. “Don’t worry. We’ll figure it out.” Emma returned a gentle smile, wrapping her arms around him in a hug as he moved to do the same.

“Hey, lovebirds, get your ass over here.” Ted called from the other side of the counter, adding under his breath “my heads spinning and you shmucks are getting busy.”

“Leave them alone, Ted.” Bill muttered, handing some papers back over to the Colonel.

“Oh, leave them alone. We’re back for another apocalypse, ya can’t blame me for wanting certain priorities in order, ya know, like living? Then we can get busy after!”

“Ted! There’s children here. Keep your mouth clean.”

“Bill we’re going to die. Again! And you’re worried about my mouth?”

“Never mind, just stop overreacting.”

“What, oh, a monster sends his little minions two years ago, then it’s second in command bombs the mall and now this monster god is trying to take over the earth and you’re worried I’m overreacting?”

“Boys. Stop.” The Colonel commanded. “We don’t need to argue. Focus.” Bill and Ted shrunk into themselves as she shuffled the papers in her hands. “I knew something was up but I could never get up there to confirm anything but with your corroboration and the General’s been manipulated again. We can take this up higher and get something done.”

“Ya think they’re gonna do something? They’re just going to nuke the place.”

Melissa placed a hand on the Colonel’s shoulder, rubbing circles with her thumb. “I think Ted’s right, Christy. Look how long this has been going on, and the General only got involved because Emma said something.”

“And you guys said yourself you’re a secret group in the military. Who’s gonna believe all this alien shit fast enough to come help us?”

The Colonel huffed. “I understand the concerns.”

“No offense Colonel Schaffer,” Bill started, bringing both of his to his forehead, “but you guys barely had the other two instances contained, and that was with trained people. If there’s no one else that can help, and you just have us?” He waved his hands around the group in emphasis. The gaggle of IT workers looked nervous. Even if they weren’t involved in the Lakeside incident, they knew it it got physical, just like the when the meteor crashed before it.

“Oh god, we’re boned. We can’t compete with a god!” Ted moaned, walking away from the table. As he left for more room to pace, Hannah, Tim, and Lex moved in closer from peaking in the living room. Hannah wiggled in between some adults to get close to the sliding door, looking out and watching the sun set. 

Emma and Paul sidled up next to Bill, she watched over his shoulder as he began texting Alice, muttering to himself, “we’re not getting separated this time.”

“C’mon guys, it-it’s gonna be work, but we done it before, right?” Paul added. “And this time we have a plan, a strategy! It’s way more prepared than when the network came at us.”

“Hannah and I made it out of the mall mostly unharmed too.” Lex added, gaining looks from some of the other adults.

“Exactly! That’s has to be something.”

Ted rounded back into the room, lips pursed. “Paul, I know we got out of the meteor bullshit, but that one was so close. We died. We all died.” He gestured to everyone around the room before pointing back towards Paul. “You were the only one that made it and I don’t even know if we can say that you did make it. If Schaffer didn’t show up, you would have straight up died and we’d still be wandering around in a musical cult until someone else came around to off us.”

“So what Ted? You think we should just give up?” Melissa asked.

“I’m just saying maybe we’d have a better chance to get to heaven if we all went to our respective church’s—“

“And wait for the inevitable?” Emma interjected with a bit more force than anticipated. She knew that they’d been through hell and back for the past few years, but she didn’t realize how cynical it could make them. Facing the horrors of whatever realities are going on more than once, she would think, would make someone’s resolve a bit stronger after surviving one or two, but front he looks on their faces, Ted and Bill especially, they don’t look like they can go through another bout. Even Schaffer looked uncertain of herself as she studied Melissa next to her, who all but deflated into her chair. “This can’t be how it goes out. You’ve gone through so much already.”

“Perky, I don’t think you get it. I don’t know about the little girls, but we were all here when the meteor crashed, right? We died. Straight up died. And it wasn’t pretty.” Ted explained.

“You think we could just, I dunno, get off the island?”

Schaffer shook her head. “That’s a negative, they have people posted in Clivesdale just for that scenario. And from the looks of this information it doesn’t matter where you end up in the world, it can only give you more time.”

“Then that’s even more reason to fight it!” Emma exclaimed. “It’s now or never guys. Either go out trying to save the world or die. But at least we did something. Think about it, you can’t let yourself die regretting not even trying.” She turned, tapping Bill against the shoulder. “What about, what about Alice and Deb? Or Tim? Or Lex or Hannah? They’re kids. We can’t just give up and let them lose everything that’s ahead of them!”

“How old are you Hannah?” Melissa asked sheepishly.

The young girl looked over, the last light fading from her face as it fell behind the tree line in Emma’s backyard. “Eleven.”

“Oh god.” Bill groaned, pinching at the bridge of his nose. “Alice only just graduated high school.”

“Exactly! If nothing else, can’t we do it for them?” Emma looked around again, happy to at least be gaining more consistent eye contact between the adults. Her chest puffed up, a fire growing inside her that felt like the feelings of regret that lit up after Jane died. It wasn’t the same, this one brought a fight in her that she hasn’t felt in a long time. It brought strength that she didn’t know she had. “If there’s truly nothing that can live for if this thing comes then they’re the only thing worth fighting.” Her eyes fell onto Tim who opposite her, a small smile widening across his pinched lips.

“She’s right. It’s do or die. That’s the only thing I could think of when I felt at the meteor.” Paul added.

“It’s our duty to at least try.” The Colonel said, nodding and taking Melissa’s hand in hers. “It’s my duty, at least, as an official. I owe it to do anything to protect and serve the people.”

“What people? There won’t be any people left!” Ted pressed. Emma rolled her eyes, catching Bill giving Paul a sad look over her head. It was her turn to start pacing, taking a step back from the gathered table to try to think of other ways to get them in. Though Colonel Schaffer was the strongest and best suited to go up against whatever this was, there was no way she could do it alone, even with Paul; being up against the two other officers. Hidgens, and his assistants is enough to outnumber and out power them.

“He’s leaving his throne.”

Emma turned towards Hannah who was staring at her from her position near the sliding door. The little girl squeezed her eyes together, holding the nighthawks hat tightly against her head.

“What’s the weird kid talking about.”

Lex turned toward Ted, landing a punch against his upper arm and sneering. “She’s not weird. Back off asshole.” She bent down next to her sister, brushing her hair down her back. “What’s up, Hannah?”

“It’s the network.”

Emma whipped around to Paul just in time to watch the blood rush from his face. The Colonel caught it too, perking up and moving away from her chair. Emma was certain that Ted was still talking, probably complaining about the pain in his arm but she tried to tune him out, watching Lex look up from the adults to her little sister in concern. The smaller girl had put her hands up against her ears and tucked her head close to her body.

The doorbell rang, silencing all the other sounds in the kitchen. Emma could feel her heart beating faster in she turned to the front door but Bill was faster, moving quick and waving his hands. “I texted Alice to have her and Deb come over. They said they were on the way, it’s okay.”

Paul slowly approached behind him. “Bill, I don’t—“

He flung the door open to find the two teenagers standing confused behind it before both being pulled into a big embrace by Bill. “Thank god.” Behind them, Paul’s shoulders relaxed, he raked a hand through his hair as he turned back to the others in relief.

“Thank god.” Ted muttered, dropping heavily into the chair behind him. “No more visitors, right? The parties pretty packed now!” He said, looking towards Emma with an inciting look.

She shook her head in reply. “No, I think everyone’s here.” She looked towards Paul for assurance. “It’s everyone right?” He gave her a few quick nods as him, Bill and the two teens joined back in the kitchen.

“You’re positive?” The Colonel asked from her left.

“Yeah.”

“Then there’s someone in your backyard.”

Almost tripping over herself, she rushed to Colonel Schaffer’s side, looking out from the sliding door and down towards the shaded grass. The sun was behind the trees poking between the branches with beams glaring right into the kitchen, making it hard to see through squinted eyes, but she did see a figure out there, between the shed and play set who was kneeling on the ground. The person wasn’t big, couldn’t have been bigger than Emma herself, but with the lighting she couldn’t tell who was down there. Emma glanced back towards Paul for a second, who was coming up behind her. He gave a small shrug before Emma pulled the sliding door open, shouting out from behind the screen. “Hey!”

They didn’t react. Pulling back the screen Emma, Paul, and the Colonel all stepped out onto the back deck, moving forward enough to get into the shade. As her eyes adjusted she watched the figure, a girl with blonde hair tied up in a ponytail messed with something that laid in front of her on the ground. Paul bent down further, looking hard towards the girl, “is that?”

“Grace?” Emma shouted again, this time getting a response as the young girl turned, smiling brightly towards the others at the top of the deck. She looked different from when Emma last saw her, weeks ago, she was pale, thinner, but her ever constant smile looked wider, stretching at the corners that it enveloped most of her face. Her blue eyes seemed bright, eerily bright against the dimmed lawn; but not like Paul’s, more clouded, a darker hue than what she usually saw, eyes that seemed to flicker in radiance. As the assistant smiled over towards the ones on the deck, her hands were still doing something out of their view. “Grace? What are you doing?”

“Making an entrance we’ll never forget!” Grace shouted, her voice so shrill, so light that it sent pins down Emma’s spine. She opened her mouth to say something else but an eruption of sounds, a wave of discordant, wailing pitches blasted into her eardrums. It was like the sound that she’d heard from the research floor the first time she cut the cord from Hidgens but that pulsing low bass, vibrating the bones in her body was almost incapacitating. 

The three of them dropped towards the deck, crouching as small as they pressed their palms flat against their ears. Emma fought to keep her eyes open, her vision looked shaky, like a strobing light was going off but nothing was happening before her eyes, the sound was affected all her senses. She looked over to the others, the Colonel only holding one hand against her ears as the other searched around her belt. Next to her, Paul was completely face down, forehead pressing hard against the wooden planks. His face was pinched tight and he was screaming, just like before when the sounds blasted through the office. Emma crept next to him, letting go of her ears and taking the ice pick stabbing into her brain as she placed both hands against Paul’s face, pulling him up to her. The electric blue in his eyes seemed to shine bright enough to be illuminating the rest of his face. Beaming, tearing eyes pierced her own for a few seconds as she tried to get him to focus, patting his cheeks with some force. His teeth clenched together into a grimace as he tried desperately to calm down but he couldn’t keep concentration as his eyes flicked back and forth, following something that Emma couldn’t see or hear.

She forced herself to look away and up into the house. Everyone was down on their knees, doing the same thing as Paul, trying to collapse into themselves to get away from the horrid sounds that blared in the air. She didn’t know what to do, she could barely focus a thought. So much was going on, too much, from the man crying in her hands to her nephew, inside pressing his back against the wall covering his face with his hands so tightly that he was turning red.

Something dropped onto her shoulder, concentrating on the weight enough to turn and acknowledge that it happened. Next to her was the Colonel, scowling towards Grace as she shoved something into her ears. Schaffer then dug back into her belt and pulled Emma’s hand to hers, pressing two small smooth objects into her hand. They were earplugs, high quality ones at that. Made out of something way harder than foam and formed in half circles stacked on top of each other. The Colonel helped bringing the first near her ear before she was able to control her hand enough to shove them down into the canal.

Together the sound was dampened but not stopped completely. The high pitches cut out but the low rumbling continued with instances of strong mid tones spiking against her skull every now and then. Much more manageable than the shrill drilling that was happening before. Thoughts weren’t fighting against each other to be heard but could form accordingly. Emma tried to blink away the headache that was pushing against her forehead but focused on the Colonel as she waved a hand in front of the other’s face.

Slowly but with sharp, exact movements, she pointed over towards Grace adding a few more hand movements around her face and ears before drawing a line across her neck. Oh god, Emma hoped she wasn’t about to kill the girl, she didn’t know if she could handle watching them murder a teenager. The Colonel saw her hesitancy to answer before pulling out some handcuffs from her belt. Drawing another line against her neck and pointing towards her ears to tell her that the sound is what she wanted killed. Emma nodded vigorously before trying to get up. Everything was still shaking, the ground, her legs, her vision, it was hard to keep up and follow Schaffer as she bolted towards Grace. The Colonel was crouched, bent at the hips and tackled the young girl like a football player would tackle their opponent. They both went flying and they wrestled as Emma tried to focus at the device in front of her. 

It looked like a speaker, a large rectangular box that was dug into the ground of her backyard. Yanking it out of the ground she was surprised how small it was compared to how much sound it was putting out. There were no brands or symbols on it, she guessed that Hidgens made it. Flipping it over, she was confused to find the box sleek and enclosed, with no buttons nor switches on any of the sides. Emma stood holding device high and throwing it to the ground but it did nothing except bounce off the rumbling grass. She tried hitting it but seemed to pain her more than it hurt the device. 

She looked around, finding the Colonel still fighting to keep the younger girls limbs from flailing beneath her. Being this close to the sound was making her lose focus as she tried desperately to think of something, anything that could end the noise. Emma stumbled to her feet and ran towards her shed, hoping that she forgot to lock it from the last time she was in it. The door flung open, almost shooting back at Emma as she looked around for something to smash into the machine. Her eyes fell onto an old ax. Not too old but dented and worn at the handle. It was much heavier than Emma expected, almost slipping out of her hands as it came off the wall. She ran back to the device, heaving the ax over her shoulder and let the weight and gravity bring it down against the fine metal.

Small sparks lit at the ax hit it’s target, cutting and crunching through the meshed metal and piercing the guts inside. The thunderous roars shaking the ground stopped and Emma could hear her heartbeat pumping blood through her veins. She panted, turning back towards the two women still fighting not he ground before throwing herself onto the younger woman’s legs. Eventually her hands were clasped behind her. 

The Colonel stood up and Emma quickly followed staring down at the girl who wriggled at their feet. Schaffer pulled an earplug out and clapped a hand onto Emma’s shoulder. “Good work, Emma.” She just nodded in return, watching the Colonel walk into the shed and come back out with a jump rope, wrapping it around her midsection. “It would seem that they’re ahead of schedule.”

They walked back up to the deck where Paul was still crouched close to the ground. Emma knelt down next to him, gently placing a hand on his shoulder. “Paul? Hey we got it.” He looked up, hands still clamped against his eras. “It’s okay.”

“Okay.” He shouted, realizing his mistake when Emma winced away. Slowly he took his hands away from his ears looking down toward the ax that stuck straight out from the speaker device in the ground. “Okay.” He pinched at the bridge fo his nose, sitting back onto his haunches and breathing loudly. Emma rubbed her hand down his arm, watching slowly come back to his senses. “Okay.” In one swift motion, he was back on his feet, knees cracking as he did. Emma rose next to him as they moved to towards the sliding doors where inside the Colonel was tying Grace to a chair. “Okay. T-that’s not good.”

The kitchen was quiet as everyone watched the Colonel restrain the other girl. Shocked expressions gaped around to each other in terror. Emma sat down next to Tim, rubbing his back as he looked up to her with a wet face. He leaned forward to hug her, holding tightly around her waist as she rested her chin on the top of his head.

After Schaffer had Grace firmly tied to the chair, she checked on Melissa, holding her face gently like Emma did with Paul before. The Colonel brushed her thumb against the others cheek, Melissa holding tight to the officer’s shoulders. She pulled back and cradled Mellisa’s shaking hands in hers. “Everyone alright?” No one opposed, which was enough of an answer for the Colonel. “She said she was making an entrance. They must be making the portal as we speak.”

“What are you doing out here? You can’t do it at the office?” Paul asked, voice wavering a bit.

Grace still held her smile, bright white teeth displaying proudly. “They need enough room. Don’t want our guest to be cramped.”

“You’re miles away from the center of town, even though that device is loud, it’s improbable that you can secure a stable sound quality across this whole area.” 

“Oh, don’t worry, Colonel.” Grace chirped, “that was just one amplifying point. There are loads of them between here and the crown. We’re just turning everything on.”

“What?”

“It’s still playing.” Hannah called from the corner of the dining room. “I can still hear it playing.” The room strained to listen, though Emma didn’t hear anything. “Chains are stronger together.”

“I hear it too.” Paul said, leaning towards the open sliding door.

“How many of those things did you plant around the island?”

“Oh, they’re here and there. Much too many for you to find before our guest arrives.”

“If we get some won’t that at least break the chain, or something?” Ted asked.

“He doesn’t need all of them, just enough to strengthen his grip into our reality.”

“Why can’t anyone talk normal? What is wrong with kids these days?” Ted groaned, throwing his hands over his eyes.

“Nothings wrong with being hospitable. We must treat our guest with courtesy as they’re going to be Earth’s new ruler.” Grace then began to go on a tangent, speaking reverently about the guest that they were inviting. The Colonel tried to cut into her rant but she didn’t stop, almost leading a sing-song story that only she could hear. They watched as she went on and on, not needing to catch her breath between the words as she praised the guest as he will cleanse the world. No one else looked as happy as Grace did.

Melissa leaned into the Colonel, whispering into her ear and pointing towards the captive. Schaffer walked over and stuck a hand into Grace’s pocket, pulling out her phone and a few pieces of paper from her hoodie pocket. “Hey, that’s not very hospitable.”

The Colonel opened up the pieces of paper, they looked like the other pages they collected, equations, drawings of waves which Emma realized were frequencies, and instructions that were all in Hidgens’ handwriting. Unfolding the last piece of paper revealed a map of the island with a large triangle drawn over top of it. She laid it out on the table, pointing at the tip of the triangle. “That’s the office, Emma, where is this address on here?”

Emma stood and leaned over taking a second to orient herself to the roads. “Right here.” She pointed, at the right most tip of the triangle. “Right at the point.”

“How lucky you are!” Grace chimed from behind them.

“My god, this perimeter is huge.” The Colonel said under her breath. “There’s no way we can take this thing out.”

“Take out the points.” Emma turned to look at Hannah, who gave her a solemn nod. She hadn’t been wrong yet.

“Then maybe it can’t create an area.” Bill added. “Take out the most concentrated spots could be more effective than a single row.”

“Ya lost me, Bill.”

“He may be right, though. Especially if the office is at a point. If those are main charges, taking each out will weaken everything else.” 

“Then that’s the plan, but there’s a problem. I think since you’ve all been infected before these frequencies are affecting you more than Emma or me. We’re going to need more ear protection.”

Tim tapped Emma against her her side. She crouched down and he said quietly, “there’s headphones in the gun safe.”

Emma remembered the small keys that sat near the back door and brought them to the cabinet in the garage. The padlock crunched from disuse but opened nonetheless. Three sets of headphones sat at the bottom of the cabinet, a film of dust coating the hard black casing. She brought them back inside, showing them to the Colonel. “Those should be acceptable. Not everyone will be able to come. Paul, I’m assuming you’re coming.” He nodded, taking some a pair from Emma.

Melissa took one as well before there was a lull in volunteering. Emma offered them towards Bill.

“I’ll stay back with the kids.” Bill said, raising both hands to decline. “We can’t just leave them here alone.”

“I’m staying too.” Emma replied. “I can’t leave Tim.”

“Are you sure, Emma?” The Colonel asked.

“Yeah, I promised him.” She handed both the in-ear plugs and the other black ones to the Colonel. She pursed her lips but gave her a terse nod as Emma backed away towards Tim. She smiled down at him but he didn’t return it. The smile fell from her face. “What’s wrong, bud?”

He chewed on his bottom lip, looking up thoughtfully towards his aunt. “Emma, I think you have to go with them.”

She shook her head, “what? I thought you—“

“I know, but they don’t stand a chance without you. It doesn’t work on you. They’ll need your help.”

“But Tim—“

“I know what I said. But you’re more helpful out there. You have to, Emma.”

“Are you sure?” She placed both hands on Tim’s shoulders, crouching down to be eye to eye with him once more. 

He nodded, he looked sad but there was a fire that Emma’s seen in herself lit behind the dark brown eyes of her nephew. “We’ll have plenty of time to make up after.”

Emma nodded, tears building behind her eyes but still she smiled, squeezing his shoulders gently. She approached the Colonel again, taking back the earplugs she had used before. Ted had begrudgingly the last pair of headphones. Together they placed the second point on the shore near the main ship docks.

They faced each other, Bill and the kids looking out to the five piling into the Colonel’s vehicle, and hoped for the best. Giving whatever blessings they could before they departed towards another fight for all of their lives.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Eh, not the strongest, but it’s moving. Hope all are safe.
> 
> Does this all make sense? Or have I just royally crashed into a weird crack fic? Join me next time to find out!


	22. Chapter 22

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Being crammed in the back seat of a car between two men and an axe wasn’t a spot Emma would have thought she’d end up in, yet that’s how that evening began, traveling in the Colonel’s black car following a treasure map to stop an...alien? God? In the grand scheme, did it’s title even matter if they all wind up dead? It was enough trying to find buried amplifier boxes around the small suburb district near Emma and Tim’s, though they soon realized that the locations were vaguely drawn down the lines of the map and no one else was around watching them, compared to Grace using the corner to connect the two lines. Finding those three key spots, one being the office building, gave them a more thought out plan than trying to destroy the majority of them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait! The hospital has been crazy and I was hit in the hospital recently which gave me less time as I worked harder and longer. Couldn’t focus between the patients and anything else really. But I think I should be able to get something else out by the end of the week.
> 
> Also TRIGGER: GORY EXPLANATION, NO BLOOD BUT MEDICALLY AND GRAPHICALLY THOROUGH.

Being crammed in the back seat of a car between two men and an axe wasn’t a spot Emma would have thought she’d end up in, yet that’s how that evening began, traveling in the Colonel’s black car following a treasure map to stop an...alien? God? In the grand scheme, did it’s title even matter if they all wind up dead? It was enough trying to find buried amplifier boxes around the small suburb district near Emma and Tim’s, though they soon realized that the locations were vaguely drawn down the lines of the map and no one else was around watching them, compared to Grace using the corner to connect the two lines. Finding those three key spots, one being the office building, gave them a more thought out plan than trying to destroy the majority of them.

Emma looked to her left at Ted, who barely an hour ago was fine with paper bagging his head and waiting for the end. There was still an apathetic glaze in his eyes, but it was warming to know Ted hadn’t lost all hope in himself like she worried before. Up front, Colonel Schaffer did her best to navigate the winding roads near the cliff Ed shore as they made their way around the island. It must feel vindicating to find your suspicions correct, but this wasn’t the reveal that your coworker was indeed stealing your lunch out of the fridge. She held a vice like grip on the steering wheel, garnering a look from Melissa in the passenger seat. She tried her best to relax the Colonel with small points of contact getting her to loosen her white knuckle grip slightly but the unease was still creeping up her neck.

It wasn’t hard to tell how Paul was doing as every bounce of the leg reverberated across the entire back seat. Emma originally handed him the axe earlier when he was picking at the skin on his hands but the picking turned to constant worrying on the handle that would turn his palms raw.

Thankfully she could tell they were getting closer. The windows vibrated slowly until they buckled between the frames, letting the sound in to rattle at their teeth.

It was a juxtaposing feeling, she could remember driving down this same shoreline with Jane years ago, watching Lake Superior lap it’s frigid water against the rocky beach. Hearing the ice crunch against itself as it pushed onto land by the tides in winter. But that bitter nostalgia was replaced with an almost still waters that mimicked wide rip currents across the whole island, lurking underneath it’s unsuspecting exterior to swallow people whole. The lakes ambience covered with a thundering low note that warned of danger.

“Over there.” Melissa shouted, pointing towards a silhouette moving near the docks. The car rolled to a stop behind it and the Colonel turned and pointed towards Emma and the axe, which she took from Paul before car doors sprang open. They flinched as the sound pierced fully into th3e cab, but the headphones seemed to be doing the job, seeing how Paul was able to keep on his feet as he moved to let help Emma from her seat.

Schaffer and Emma led the group, the others hesitantly following behind down the course hill. The silhouette danced around in circles near a small box dug into the rocks, as the got closer, Gerald’s appearance, and the similarities between him and Grace become more apparent, the pallor of his skin that hung off his face and joints. Flickering eyes that looked towards the sky, barely stopping to take in the pack striding towards him. His wide grin showcased helloing teeth that shouted out underneath the drowning amplifier.

The Colonel motioned towards the device and Emma started quick, watching Gerald carefully as he continued his speech, arms extending up towards the stars. The little regard towards anything happening before let Emma focus her energy towards keeping her shaking legs from collapsing from under her as she swung the axe above to get momentum before cracking it down onto the machine. The volume lessened but she missed center, leaving the other speaker shuddering in and out of life. Before she could bring it down again there was an undescernable cry that caught her attention over the gasping music. Though the direction of sound was impossible to gauge, the sight of Gerald sprinting her way was enough of a context clue to startle her, halting the axe mid air. The weight of the axe, coupled with physics flung the axe down on it’s own, wrenching her wrists and letting it slip past her grip. That alone was enough force to defunct the amplifier, the handle tipping into the course sand towards the incoming body as her legs tried to decide whether to move left or right.

The action’s impulse never made it to her legs, but the Colonel intervened before Gerald made it, flying into him from behind and knocking him onto his hands and knees, barely out of reach to the axe. Paul followed quickly behind, helping wrestle the man all the way onto his stomach to be handcuffed. He tried to thrash them off but only dug himself deeper into the shifting pebbles underneath.

Without the amplifier running, his muffled shouts became more audible. “—stopping his destiny! You’re going to kill him! You’re all murderers!”

“He’s gonna kill you when he gets here ya fucking noodle!” Ted shouted back overhead.

“Becoming one with him is a blessing! A miracle of being, compared to this place. Your’e lucky to become apart of him.” Paul and the Colonel stood up panting, shaking the sand front heir clothes as Gerald continued his lament. “You’d let a creature be tortured, be killed. Then you’re the real monsters!”

“Good work.” The Colonel called out, completely ignoring the remarks from below.

“Why would you stop such lovely powers? Can’t you see he’s here to save us! Save the world!”

“God, will ya quit it already! Total annihilation is not saving the world. It’d destroying everything!”

“Is it? Would the world in static’s be better than how we’re treating it now?” Gerald spat, baring his teeth towards Ted.

“Oh come off it! No world is worse than whatever’s going on right now.”

“According to you! Watching us destroy the world and humanity with it is better? Slowly burning ourselves alive, killing and maiming over who’s in charge? That’s better than becoming one with each other? He wants to welcome us somewhere better, a place where there’s no discord. He wants us to come together in one mind and soul.”

Ted dragged his hands down his beat red face, sputtering aimlessly betfore shouting in frustration, “what are you fucking talking about? That doesn’t even make—do you hear what you’re saying? You aren’t making any—“

“Ted, stop! Stop arguing with a- a cultist! You aren’t going to get anywhere.” Melissa yelled, shoving him gently to get his attention. “Nothing you say, no logic makes sense to him.”

“She’s right. We are inherently illogical, therefore we must give up ourselves to him so he can help us better humanity.”

Ted pointed back down towards Gerald before Melissa pulled his arm back in attempts to stop the endless fight. He held his hands up, clearly not understanding what’s wrong. “But you— C’mon!”

Gerald barked out a laugh, startling their eyes towards him as he struggled to get onto his knees. “You can continue to argue all you want when he arrives!”

“Just stop talking! We’ve broke your stupid toy—“

“You broke it too late!”

Emma was yanked from her spot, stumbling into Melissa who held her close pointing towards where she just was. Turning, Emma’s eyes widened to find a glowing purple aura shimming in the air. Similar to what was in the lab that was surrounded by amazed looks and thick soundproofing. This time, Emma gave no wonder, instead the sight injected ice into her veins as sheer terror flooded her system.

The mist like formation flickered in intensity from transparent to a shroud of metallic colors. Almost mimicking the lake tide, it looked as if it was breathing, growing wide with each crest. Rolling fog pressed on and Gerald struggled to get closer. Once he crawled within inches, the formation enveloped him whole, gaseous particles twisted around his body as he began to shout more praises. The glowing increased, illuminating around him in a way that was brighter and with more depth than before.

“What—what’s going on?” Emma yelled, grabbing back towards Melissa and looking at the terrified reactions of the others. The four stood looking around to each other just with similar confused looks across there faces.

Then the screaming started. Screaming pierced louder than any sound that they’ve heard so far today. Screaming that made Emma slap her hands over the earplugs that in that instant she forgot she was wearing. It was coming from Gerald, the screaming. His face contorted in pain and fear as he turned frantically, searching for something that he couldn’t find. His eyes were wide, bulging out of the sockets. Blood leaked from his wrists as he thrashed, trying to get released. The screaming increased as more voices combined with Gerald’s, screeching, operatic voices, low guttural roaring, sounds that couldn’t have been made by a human voice crescendo as the bright aura started to constrict around the man’s flailing body. His screams became pants and shouts as he ran out of air but still was too frightened not to call for help.

As the aura shaped to his form, his body started to shift below it. First it was his clothes, pulling away from his skin as it unraveled itself by each thread before flying outward from the and slowly cutting, inch by inch before disappearing into the mist. It started behind him, unraveling by his wrists to his reveal his sickly white skin before deconstructing the handcuff in chunks. Once his hand released it wrenched itself out behind him as he screamed in pain. Fingers seemed to bend in ways that weren’t possible without breaking bones before his fingernails peeled off his body and seemed to shrink and disappear like everything else.

The others realized what was happening as skin flayed between the fingers. Melissa shrieked, letting go and stumbling away before the Colonel grabbed her into her chest, face pressed into her neck so she couldn’t see.

Muscles and veins sat were plucked from their foundations into the air, blood spurting and evaporating before it could hit the ground. The strands untangling from each other, slowly pulling away each piece of his wrist and up his forearm. Gerald could finally move to see what was happening before his screaming started again, so terrified as he waved his arm that descontstructed in front of him. His other grabbed at his ears, trying to block out the other voices before his elbow begins the same process as his other arm.

Ted began retching bile and stomach contents into the rocks, hands against knees as he tried to stay standing and watching whatever was happening before him. Another bout starts as pieces of his face, his nose and lips disintegrate away, revealing his teeth underneath. The screaming continues as the man tries to stand on his feet but struggles as a leg as already disappeared. Gerald hits the ground hard, flying course sand into the air that levitated next his white and red cheekbones.

The man slowly shedding himself before them wasn’t a bad person, inherently. He was human just like them. A human caught up in the wills of a monster they cannot comprehend. She wanted to help, she _should_ help him but god, the sight before her as his hair was plucked one at a time, his eyeballs beginning to bulge more than they should made her only stagger a few steps forward instead of bolt like a good Samaritan to help the man who is so obviously in need.

Before her feet could create a steady rhythm Paul grabbed at her arm tightly. She tried to shake him off but he held fast, wrapping his other arm around her and pulled her back from the mist that began devouring the bones of the man screaming in front of them, grinding them down into dust until they evaporated from the air. Emma realized that it was useless to help Gerald. That it was too late, his brain was exposed, his chest open to the elements, but what a terrifying sight to just stand and let someone be consumed away. Because if he can be taken away, what’s to stop them from having the same fate. Her struggling was useless, barely fighting against Paul though he kept his strong hold.

The chest cavity was clean of organs. Gerald was no longer yelling because he had no vocal chords to make sounds with. Eventually only his skull and spine remained, floating in the air. The screaming was beginning to lower, the high pitched wails all but disappeared and the bones shed to reveal the nerves that liquified in front of them. With each nerve disappearing the screams quieted and all at once it became silent again as the last of what was Gerald disappeared into the mist.

Somewhere in the distance the thrumming of the amplifiers played across the island. The radiating particles turned back to a dim glow that floated across the beach, slowly increasing again in it’s reach. The grip around Emma slacked and she turned to grab at Paul herself, staring up in disbelief as they held each other. The muffled sound of Melissa crying could be heard behind her but it was Ted that startled them out of their embrace, dropping a hand onto each of their shoulders and trying to push them out, away from the encroaching formation. He himself looked tired, green from the vomiting, struggling to look at the others in front of him before he let go and moved to pull the women as well.

It was enough to shake Melissa out of her crying. The Colonel looked saddened that her comfort was useless during the time, but realizing there was more that they had to be focused if she truly wanted to save Melissa from the pain, save anyone from the horror show that they just witnessed. With one last tight hug, she took the other’s hand and started guiding them towards the car, yelling back at the others to get to the car.

There was another body that was being led to the car, not Emma’s. She was lost, floating somewhere trying to take in what was happening all around her. Nothing was making sense. What they set out to do was beginning to lose hope towards actually saving something anyone, least of all the whole world. The car door slammed shut and she was slammed back into her body. Somehow the axe was in her hand, but she didn’t remember picking it up after dropping it before. She’s back between the two men, the Colonel and Melissa in the front seat and the car jolted forward, speeding way too fast from the parking lot and back onto a street.

“The office, something could probably stop it at the office.” The Colonel shouted.

“Christy. Look.” Melissa placed a hand on the driver’s bicep, pointing out towards the shore. “The other monitors have it around them too, that has to be what it is. It’s spreading too quick.”

“Then we’ll have to be quicker.” Schaffer slammed down on the gas and the others were pressed back into their seats.

“Fucking Christ, Schaffer.” Slow down!” Ted shouted.

“Negative, no time.”

“The office has to be making it too, there’s nothing else that can be done.” Melissa tried.

“Maybe.”

“Christy, please. If we must we have to think of an alternative plan.”

“What? You want to just pull out my gun and have us all shoot ourselves and save us from _that_ fate?” The car screeched to a stop and the Colonel looked out the back window. Emma glanced back as well, there was still an opening where they just were to get to the docks if they waded out a few feet. “Maybe you should get out. All of you. Get out and leave the island. Then maybe alert the others before it gets off the island.” Emma’s never heard her sound like this before. This wasn’t the Schaffer that brought her to the island, this must have been the Colonel. The one that’s has to make decisions for the greater good. The Colonel that has killed people because they didn’t listen. The one that has seen her friends shot down, that maybe has shot her own friends down as well. This was the one that came back from countless fights, battles, wars that she helped decide the outcome. This ones was the Colonel, who took orders from herself. “Get ready to run, I’m bringing you back to the docks.”

“What? No. I’m not leaving you!” Melissa cried out.”

“Me neither.” Emma agreed.

“It’s no longer a request. It’s an order. Get off the island. Try to save what’s left.” The car made a tight turn, the force pushing Emma into Paul, trying to stop the axe from falling into his legs. She gunned it back towards the parking lot they just left. Outside, screaming could be heard. It wasn’t painful, not like the amplifiers pierced their ears. It was terrifying, it was saddening. Despairing as houses on the coast were engulfed in a purple haze. “It’s faster than before. It only—“

“Watch out!” They whipped their heads forward to find the fog rolling across the street. It’s particles shimmered bright, almost blinding them in small patches within the car. The Colonel slammed on the brakes and cranked the wheel but they still were heading towards it. Melissa was yelling, Ted was swearing, Emma held tight to Paul’s hand that she didn’t know she had taken.

The feeling of entering into the fog was like entering from air conditioning to a humid afternoon. It was thick, smelt of ozone, and made her skin crawl. The car stalled in the int he fog as everyone dropped to look at their hands.

Nothing was happening.

No pulling at the clothes. No skin peeling back to show their insides. No screaming, no wailing, besides Melissa in the front.

Breathing felt harder to do, but she wasn’t disintegrating away. She looked at the others, all of them fully there, fingernails intact. They looked at amazed as she was. Her skin continued to crawl, like small needles that are too dull to break the surface. Eventually Schaffer slammed the gas again just to leave the area. When they exited the mist, everything was back to normal. It was lighter, less pressure on their bodies.

“What the fuck is happening?” Ted called out. “Why am I not spaghetti. Why didn’t it do the same thing?”

“If I know I’d probably have said it already.” Schaffer said grimly, speeding past the docks. It seemed as if the offer to escape was off the table. “Whatever is different between us and him that made us survive can only be useful to stop this whole operation.”

“What are we gonna do?”

“The only thing we can, get into the office and destroy whatever’s sending out the music. That’s the only thing left that I can think of. Unless you have another idea.”

No one spoke up.

“They just moved to the roof, it has to be up there somewhere.”

Emma bounced in her seat. “Oh, oh! They were in the radio station office, the towers on the roof! That’s probably how they’re broadcasting.”

Schaffer nodded, making another fast left turn down the main road. “Nice work, Emma. You’re probably right. If we can get that, or the system they’re using for the tower, then maybe the cancelling the source of the sound could be enough. If the island’s silent than maybe that’s make it stop.”

Ahead, they could see the office and the fog that surrounded it. “Are you sure it’ll do it?” Ted asked.

“If not, we can at least send out a distress signal.” Melissa added.

“Affirmative. Either we destroy it or send out a last call.” They entered into the formation again. This time, the hue around them changed into a grand purple that tinted everything around them. It was just as thick even with the crisp smell of ozone surrounding them. Sweat started beading against their foreheads but nothing else physically changed on them.

The car halted at the front doors. And they piled out, much more lethargic than before as the gravity felt heavier against their legs.

It was weird, the music was loud again, but in a different way. More directed, less engulfing, less reverberating. Looking up, Emma wondered if the height had anything to do with it, or maybe the concrete that stood between them and the radio tower. The reason didn’t matter though, they had to move, and move quick before something new started.

Schaffer ran to the door and flung them open but before they could enter, muffled cracking noises rang out, shattering the windows next to them as gunshots made them drop and back away from the door. Through the broken windows, they could see the purple forms of Lieutenant Lee and General McNamera pointing their weapons and approaching the coworkers like predators hunting prey.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed this one. I really hope this isn’t what happened to McNamera when he was in the portal in Black Friday, but this is something raw, not a nice creation that the government was able to built around it.  
> Next chapter they fight the military and hopefully can make it up the office!


	23. Chapter 23

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “What ideas do you have?” Melissa sneered. “We don’t have a lot of time to argue about it.”
> 
> Ted huffed, pressing his headphones into his skull. “I don’t know Melissa, I’m not the military here!” He peaked back up, trying to glance through the back windows. When he looked back down towards the others Ted’s met with a gun pointing towards him and falls back onto his bottom. “What the fuck?” It takes him a moment to realize that it’s not the barrel that is pointing at him but the handle. 
> 
> Schaffer’s brows are furrowed. “I’m authorizing you use. Take it, give us cover, don’t fire too fast or you’ll jam it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TRIGGER WARNINGS:  
> -BLOOD, GUNS, WOUNDS, CAR CRASHES
> 
> Just a heads up as well this isn’t edited, I literally finished a minute ago so whatever errors there are please disregard and also thank you for dealing with them/me.
> 
> Mission get into that office now is a go!

They ran away back towards the car, stumbling as the bullets sounded behind them like fireworks. Metal pinged and thuds popped as asphalt chipped away from the road. Emma sat panting on the other side of the car, her and Ted kneeling near the tires. A few seconds later, Paul appeared, pulling Melissa by the middle to get to cover. She pulled herself up to look over the hood before Paul pulled her further towards the middle.

“Where is Christy? I can’t see her!”

Silence fell as they listened for signs of life. The pulsing beat from the roof was all but dampened there on the street. Heartbeats thundered in Emma’s ears as she tried to focus towards tinkling of cracking glass or stomping footsteps but had a hard time concentrating.

“What do we do?” Ted muttered, crouching down to look for feet on the other side. “I don’t see anyone close by. Should we move in?”

“We got to find Christy!” Melissa pressed.

“Not if we’re gonna get shot!” Ted barked back, “we need, like a distraction or something.”

A loud thump rattled above them as a body flung over the hood. Colonel Schaffer crashing down next to them on her side. She clutched onto her left arm tightly.

“Christy!” Melissa leaned over, touching gently at her arm. “You were hit! Are you okay?”

“It’s barely grazed me. Don’t worry about it. They aren’t leaving the office so we’re safe over here. They had the opportunity to finish me but they just moved back inside.” She grumbled. She lifted her hand from her arm, blood streaking her palm but barely visible against her black clothing.

“They’re just making sure nothing stops whatever is going on.” Paul said, bobbing up for a second then thinking again about looking through the passenger windows.

Melissa pulled at her shirt, ripping the bottom binding away and wrapping it around the Colonel’s arm, tying it into a tight knot, Schaffer barely flinched.

“Jesus Melissa, this isn’t Rambo.” Ted muttered, earning a glare from the younger woman. “Okay, alright. So what are we gonna do, we’re gonna get shot before being eaten alive at this point.”

“I think you were right, Ted, we need a distraction.”

“I can help someone sneak up close to them, then give cover from a side while someone else tries to charge them. It’ll be dangerous but it’s all we can do with one gun.” Schaffer added.

“And we do what, move like your practice targets and hope the purple shit makes them miss? We’re pretty much sitting ducks now.” Ted replied.

“What ideas do you have?” Melissa sneered. “We don’t have a lot of time to argue about it.”

Ted huffed, pressing his headphones into his skull. “I don’t know Melissa, I’m not the military here!” He peaked back up, trying to glance through the back windows. When he looked back down towards the others Ted’s met with a gun pointing towards him and falls back onto his bottom. “What the fuck?” It takes him a moment to realize that it’s not the barrel that is pointing at him but the handle. 

Schaffer’s brows are furrowed. “I’m authorizing you use. Take it, give us cover, don’t fire too fast or you’ll jam it.”

“What? You can’t be serious? 

“I am serious. Either they’ll be too busy, maybe rush them from another direction or we can wait for them to run out and have to reload.”

“How much time would that give us?”

“It’s less than five seconds to reload but with the cover fire—“

Ted gaped, sitting out straighter and throwing his hands over his face. “Five seconds? Five seconds to take out two trained men? There’s no way—“

CRACK

The back windows crackle and shatter, more shots ring out, slicing through metal and exploding into the concrete. They ducked again, freezing and waiting for the bullets to stop thumping from above.

“Goddamnit!” Ted’s back hits the ground hard, head smacking the concrete and the gun flying out from his grip before curling onto one side. He bites hard at his cheeks, puffing them out as he grabs at his right shoulder. Blood seeps between his fingers, a stain blooming out through his shirt. Ted strained to look at it before dropping his head onto the asphalt, moaning in pain. “Fuck.”

The Colonel is on him, pulling his hand from the wound to take a look. Emma hovered close to him too, brushing glass away from the wound and from his hair. The dark red blood glowed a horrid purple as it pulsed over the gored skin. Schaffer shoved a hand underneath the shoulder, gaining a whine from Ted. “It didn’t go through. Nothing important is that far up. You may be alright.”

“May be? I’m gonna die. Bleed out in the street like, like roadkill.” He groaned, clamping a hand back down onto the wound. “You’re gonna leave me and I’ll die—“

More gunshots rang out from above, strands of Emma’s hair whip across the back of her as one whizzed through the broken window. A hole blasted open behind Melissa, causing her to scream and duck closer towards Schaffer.

“Ted, shut up! We’re not leaving you.” She said sternly, patting him against the cheek with a bit of force. “There’s got to be first aid kits inside. If we can get in there then we can patch you up until more help arrives.”

Schaffer yanked at Ted’s tie and tied it under his armpit. “Keep pressure and calm down, your yelling is getting us more attention!”

“How about you get shot and then tell me to shut up!”

“I was shot, Ted! Now shut it!” 

“Great we can all die right here! I’d rather that than meet this alien freak!”

Schaffer growled, pulling the tie tighter to make a point. Without any further warning the driver windows explode into sharp shrapnel, causing both Schaffer and Emma to flinch back as the small particles scrap across their bare skin. Emma swiped a hand at her face, feeling sharp cuts raking further across her skin as she brush them off. Ted is still moaning under her, his unharmed side blocking his face.

“We need to move.” Paul’s tugging at Emma’s arm, moving her from above Ted. On the other side Melissa is helping the Colonel off the ground, who’s pushing herself onto hands and knees, blood coating one side of her face.

“We don’t have any other cover!” Schaffer yelled, wiping her hand across her cheek, smearing blood across the other side. There’s a frantic look in her eye as she sweeps them across the shards scattered around them for her gun. “Where’s the gun?” Emma and Paul twist to help search but the atmosphere is taking it’s tole. The thick air the blurring haze, adrenaline rushing out through their pores, they can’t pinpoint the black object against the tarmac.

Suddenly, the driver’s door is flung open, almost knocking Paul off his feet. Melissa crawls in low, throwing the seat all the way back and starts the ignition. The engine roars in a similar note to the frequencies from above, mixing together to create a thunder. They watch through the still open door as she wrenches the wheel to the right and leans back, laying in the seat.

“What are you doing?” Schaffer shouted but Melissa was already throwing it into drive, slamming onto the gas. Tires squeal and the car veers right in a tight coil, the end almost flailing out and clipping Ted’s prone body. Emma starts to push herself up to get a better view as the exhaust smog mixes into the fog but she’s knocked back down, hands and forearms pinched by the glass as Schaffer flattens both her and Paul into the asphalt.

Only the dark aura is visible from their position on the ground when the metal crunches and glass splinters into a dull cascade that fights to be heard over the rumbling from above. They’re only on the ground for a few seconds before Schaffer is back on her feet running at the building, Emma struggling to keep up with her while Paul turned back, kneeling down and pushing Ted into a sitting position.

Dust thinned to reveal the car made it through the entrance, both pairs of wheels past where the front doors would have been, not even the frame survived, completely obliterated from the crash. The frame of the car is almost the width of the hallway, barely giving them space to get around towards the front. With no other choice they climbed over to the top, clambering on the bent metal and silted concrete.

The Colonel stopped at the driver’s window, leaning into it and saying something to Melissa. The younger girl was awake but looked frazzled, still leaning back in the reclined seat. She held her arms close and vaguely looked towards the Colonel when she placed a hand against her cheek.

“Focus, you there, Mel?” It would have been a gentle scene if the Colonel didn’t need to yell for the other woman to hear her but the bulky headphones were still planted firmly over her head and nodded, giving the Colonel a smile and a weak thumbs up.

“Must have worked, yeah?” Melissa asked, almost laughing.

“That’s not funny, that’s dangerous.”

“We didn’t have any other ideas, did we? And look we’re all still alive!”

Schaffer lip quirked as she tried to decide whether to continue her reprimanding or not. “Are you hurt? Can you move?”

Climbing over the car was much harder than Emma thought it would be, with such labored breathing and thick air to climb through, she barely made it off the hood of the car when Schaffer had gotten Melissa out through the driver’s window. The headlights glowed through the ominous haze, barely lighting the two bodies that laid face down mere feet from the fender. Emma was careful approaching the bodies, swatting at their arms to dissuade sudden movement before putting her hand near their bloodied faces.

Both were still breathing, strong steady breathes making the dust dance and stick against their cheeks. Earplugs still lodged firmly in the canal, the same ones that the Colonel pulled out of her pocket earlier in the night. She pulled at the General’s eyelids, looking at his unfocused pupils underneath with still flickering irises fading in and out of their glow. Definitely knocked out, but still alive. Emma held up a thumb towards the others as Paul all bug dragged Ted between the wall and the car.

The Colonel turned the two men onto their sides before going for a door further down the hall, Emma following close behind. The door opened to a small janitor closet with dusty, unused equipment sitting inside. On the furthest wall was a grey panel that opened to large black switches lined with colorful exposed wires. Schaffer laid her arm flush against the wall and swiped it across, the switches all flipping and the overhead lights turning off. Shrouded in darkness, the two stood still, focusing all concentration on listening for the howling tones from above.

It took a few seconds to realize with the earplugs still jammed into place, but it was still there. The rhythmic pulses that could be felt through the soles of their feet. Insistent warbling that droned in and out from their senses. Emma frowned, they weren’t connected to the buildings power. They couldn’t stop it from down here, they haven’t finished the job, which meant—

The lights blinked back on as Schaffer swatted at the switches. “We gotta get up there.”

Emma sighed heavily, the adrenaline was leaking out of her body. The cuts and scrapes from all the glass was finally starting to sting, getting sharper as sweat poured down her face. Being still for ten seconds in that janitor closet deflated the increasing drive that coursed through her was thickening with the air, slowly in her veins. Schaffer tugged her by the arm back out into the hallway, heading back towards the others who looked similarly as tired and wounded as she did.

“We can’t keep doing this.” Ted moaned from the hood of the car. “I’m gonna bleed out before we get up the stairs.”

“There’s no other choice.” Schaffer stated, getting toe to toe with Melissa, who heaved herself from leaning against the wreckage into the Colonel. Paul reached out to help stabilize them as the stumbled backwards a few steps.

“Ted right though. He’s too hurt. They’re both too hurt.” He yelled watching Melissa struggle to support herself. “You can only get not he roof through a hatch anyways.”

“God, fuck. We’ll have to split up.” Emma called throwing her hands to her face which felt like rubbing salt into her wounds. Oh yeah, she was bleeding too, but she’s still standing on her own, unlike Ted and Melissa. That doesn’t include the blood pouring at an alarming rate from the Colonel’s head from earlier from around when she got shot. They were a fucking wreck, a barely awake group of underprepared adults that haven’t even made it to the boss battle. Was this why she was losing hope? She knew the state the five of them were in, there’s no way that all of them together can figure out how to stop the noise and go against Hidgens while also not dying. Only her and Paul seemed fit enough to stand a chance of making it up the stairs. A fucking runaway and a half dead tech worker fight a foe that can peel flesh from bone? They’ve made it to their finale here where they’d sit amongst the carnage they’ve helped create to watch—

“Emma!”

She snapped out of her circling thoughts, Paul in front of her, almost nose to nose with both hands on her shoulders. He’s bleeding too, small nicks and tears concentrated on the left side of his face that left dry streaks on his skin. His glowing blue eyes pierced through the haze. The clearest thing Emma could see.

“We have to move. There’s no time.”

Emma shook her head, confused. “What?”

“The Colonel is going to send out a signal and watch Ted and Melissa. They can’t make it up there, but we have to go and end this. Are you with me?”

He pursed his lips into a thin line and Emma recognized the clarity she saw in his electric eyes. Drive, determination to finish what’s been started. Was this the same look he had before he pulled the pin from the grenade that blew him up two years ago? Because she knew this was a suicide mission.

She promised Tim she’d come back. Promised to not leave him behind. When Emma first arrived on the island everyone, everything was so afraid, so terrified to be themselves, terrified to remember one another that barely talked, hid away in mind and body living the rest of their lives as shell that feared to dream up the nightmare they once lived. These weren’t the same people she met her first day at the office. This wasn’t the same Paul that could barely breath that morning in the car. 

But it’s not someone else. It was still Paul. Paul was stronger, he wanted to survive. Though he still fights with his past, Paul’s grown, and she’s watched him grow into someone that doesn’t get stuck in the memories of the past. There’s fire in his eyes that was never ignited before, an edge in his voice that didn’t make this last mission sound as final. Paul hopes for a future past the monster that they face. A future that fights past the regrets they made those years ago. One that can learn to become a stronger person.

And isn’t that what Emma’s motive was all along? 

Who was she to stop in both of their paths?

This is for him. This is for Tim, and Melissa, and Bill to continue to be. This is for Jane, to not wipe her memory off the face of the planet, to show her sister how far she’s come. It’s for herself, because she isn’t the same Emma that answered the call back in Guatemala. This is growth, this is moving past regrets, not living in the shadow of other people’s ideals, not fearing the uncertainty, the concrete future that led to a cliff above the clouds with no clue where the ground lies. Emma knows what comes next in her future, and she’s no longer afraid.

Her arms reach up to grasp onto Paul’s, holding each other so still, they barely feel the other’s heaving breathes. Looking up into his eyes she takes on his drive. Absorbs the fire within his eyes and reflects it back at him, feeling the blood rushing back through her limbs with immense vigor as she nodded up to him, squeezing his upper arms. “I’m with you.”

His mouth closes, jaw sets tight before turning back and running to the car, grabbing the two men’s guns that Schaffer took off them and the axe before jogging back, pressing one into her palms. Emma’s never held a gun before, it weighed heavy, a strain on her wrist. She tightened her grip on the handle, the cool metal setting fire to the cuts on her palm and grabbed Paul’s hand in the other before they took running towards the stairs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed. This one was tricky, putting both an emotional edge with all the actual action/movement that’s going on. I find it hard to balance those when going from dialogue/character heavy to movement and tracking of characters. It’s fun to dance between them, hope it turned out well!
> 
> Next time we’ll get to the roof! Wonder what’s waiting for them up there?


	24. Chapter 24

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Opening the hatch and climbing onto the roof was like stepping onto another planet. The haze cloaked the entire view around them, smothering all the stars and sky. Directly in front of them was the radio tower, standing 15-20 feet, it’s metal frame glittered with otherworldly particles illuminating the area in a dim glow. The peak was barely visible as they stood before it, but the point shown through the fog like a flood light down onto a stage. Emma and Paul stood in front of the hatch feeing minuscule in the colored void before them. It could have been beautiful, something to be framed in a museum; instead it was horrifying, the gates of hell right before their eyes.

Opening the hatch and climbing onto the roof was like stepping onto another planet. The haze cloaked the entire view around them, smothering all the stars and sky. Directly in front of them was the radio tower, standing 15-20 feet, it’s metal frame glittered with otherworldly particles illuminating the area in a dim glow. The peak was barely visible as they stood before it, but the point shown through the fog like a flood light down onto a stage. Emma and Paul stood in front of the hatch feeing minuscule in the colored void before them. It could have been beautiful, something to be framed in a museum; instead it was horrifying, the gates of hell right before their eyes.

The frequencies that have been playing non-stop moaned and churned in tsunamis of sound, growing in intensity to the point that tones were indiscernible. An abyss with a single pinnacle that emitted blasting tones, just a wall of vibrations that shook them to their core.

It’s funny, being surrounded by deafening noise that should be rupturing eardrums. Being in it for so long was mind numbing, but desensitizing. The ringing wails to howling sirens. A tornado alarm at noon, fire alarm during the school day. It was easier to ignore the longer time went on. With each new event, the sound became the lesser problem, something for the back burner. Almost thrown into the trash when a voice speaks crisply over the top of the unintelligible sounds.

“Welcome to the finale.” The novice was deep, rich and exaggerated. It sounded so close, like someone speaking at your shoulder.

Emma looked around, senses perking up to the dissonance around them seeing only Paul by her side. He must have heard it too as he glanced back and forth brandishing the axe.

Back towards the radio tower, the only reference point for direction, a figure moved in the smog. Emerging from the miasma, arms outstretched, was the researcher, Henry Hidgens, bearing a grin that stretched ear to ear. He looked too thin, his clothes billowing in the breeze, skin incredibly pale, holding a eerie blue tint.

The gun rose his way, the barrel tracing the outline of his head.

Paul bumped into her shoulder and pulled her a few steps to the left. As her line of sight shifted the fog cleared to reveal the beginnings of electronic equipment. The soundboard Hidgens’ had been using from the beginning days down in the lab with other complex circuit boards and it’s own power source. She nodded, meeting his gaze, already concocting the next steps needed to destroy the devices.

“Ah, you’ve found you’re next move.” Hidgens snickered, lips moving as if he was shouting, projecting over the dozens of feet between him and the pier. Yet still it sounded like a whisper in the ear. The hairs on the back of her neck began to stand. She looked back towards the researcher who had one hand in his pocket, studying the back of the other like a smug bastard showing off his new car.

With only slight hesitation Emma pulled the trigger, hoping to stop this play world he was trying to create before it even started.

The kickback was much stronger than she expected, her arms folding under the firepower, arcing the gun back and almost hitting herself in the face. The shot itself flew high, enough to have been targeting the radio tower spot light instead.

There was a bark of laughter as Emma shook of the shock of energy. Before she could aim again he was charging at her, incredibly fast for someone his age, his smile still wide, eyes trained on her as they flickered a deep illuminating blue. She pulled the trigger again barely aiming it as the adrenaline started flooding into her again. That time there was more control, she took the wave of force right into her wrists, but it was another miss. He was so close, the next one had to hit. Emma pulled the trigger again.

Click.

She looked down, the sliding mechanism on top was stuck in the open position. The trigger no longer held tension. Was it jammed? Out of bullets?

No time, when she looked back up, Hidgens was within reach, hands outstretched to grab at her. Barely a moment to try to step back as he can at her full force. She did the best thing her body could muster. Ducked.

A good choice, as it let Paul swing the axe wider, like he knew what she was going to do before her body made the executive decision. The metal head sailed above her towards the researcher. The tip centered at his chest. At the last second, Hidgens turned towards Paul, whos baseball like swing left his whole side open, and grabbed at the axe handle, just above Paul’s grip. Leading with the established momentum, Hidgens shoulder connects into Paul’s armpit. With strength that should’ve be capable in a man his size and age, Hidgen’s tucked in and sent Paul rolling over his shoulder, flat onto his back.

Wind was still being pushed out of his body as he laid dazed on the ground, eyes wide in surprise.

Emma kneeled next to Paul to make sure he was okay. Eyes still wide, they caught her when she entered his view and still looked clear. Shaking, he pressed down on the headphones, sealing them better over his ears.

“Great tension building. No story’s complete without crisis, am I right?”

Emma looked up to him mouth agape. Up close, he looked much worse. Skin flung off the bones of his arms like wet linen. Someone like him should have been crushed doing a maneuver on a man twice his weight. His grin looked too wide, lips cracked in angry purple lines that seemed to connect to the visible veins in his face. Teeth that looked inhuman, bared against pale gums. Were they actually teeth? Or yellowing tendrils that crowded his mouth. His eyes were on fire, iridescent colors, similar to the particles in the air, the particles he showed her the first time they met, danced around his pupil.

“Maybe it’s a good thing you didn’t join me as my assistant, young lady.” He laughed, leaning back on a cocked hip. Such a nonchalant posture, one that he probably learned from his days teaching but now poses at the edge of Armageddon. “This way, you can see what all this research’s been worth!”

Emma knew her response would be drowned out with all the noise around her, though Hidgens spoke so easy, maybe it could be done. But why give the satisfaction.

“Alas, my assistants did their jobs and between them and the other unprepared citizens of Hatchetfield, those up sheltered from his call, have given him the gift to enter our world. He’s claimed enough living matter to begin his ascension! Not five minutes ago the towers frequency was reprogrammed from the islands FM station to a frequency that reaches beyond the stratosphere!” He cried, thrusting his hands into the air.

Behind his lilting once, a new sound began to overpower. Quick, sporadic crunches. Cracking and snapping. Above, near the point of the radio tower, centered on the glowing light sparks flew outwards encompassing something in the clouded peripherals. The flashing grew brighter, larger. Edges expanded outwards and the original point of light winked out into a black void that swallowed the light and particles around it.

Emma helped Paul up to a sitting position as all three of them watched the spectacle before them. With the distraction, Emma pulled the second gun from where it was tucked behind Paul’s back.

“They’re here! Paul!” Hidgens yelled, whipping around to point towards the other man. “This is them! This is who we’ve known for so long! No longer is his essence waiting at the bed of the lake. No more ambassadors enticing humans to the cause. No, this is the real thing! This is the one we’ve been hearing since the beginning!”

The widening black hole wavered in the sky like a mirage as it grew from a foot to ten feet wide. Slowly absorbing and growing with each passing second. A rising tide that can barely be measured but it was happening.

Emma raised the gun. Taking the time to aim and check that all the mechanisms were in the right position, she held her breath and began to pull the trigger.

Her concentration broke, something behind Hidgens caught her eye. In fact, it was an eye that caught her eye.

All at once, rushing to appear at the opening portal was a large eye. Big, round, that looked green and purple. Nothing about it looked human, there was no pupil, there wasn’t an iris. Was it even an eye? But it moved like one, frantically searching around before stopping dead towards the three people huddled together. When she met it’s gaze he became petrified. It didn’t look at her, it was looking at her soul, maybe looking at her cells, her DNA. Did it know she was sentient? Did it know that she had free will? Did it care? Her head began to hurt, all these thoughts were being pressed back by an oppressing feeling of dread. She swore she could hear another voice speaking to her, one she couldn’t understand, or was it just the noise Hidgens made? It filled her head and couldn’t escape. She wanted to look away. Cease the terror that began to leak into her chest. Stop the pain, the pressure building in her mind. What more was there to do? The creature—no monster— no. This god was watching her, judging her. Was she to repent? Was this the final judgement?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cut this in half to get something out. Hope y’all like it!


	25. Chapter 25

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Welcome great soul! Master of planes! A welcome guest to a new world!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I kind of imagine this being to be both wiggly and the hive but combined? I dunno, since they did have two different monsters for both musicals but they still are related? Unless it’s like a monster of the week idea, I’m playing it as it had many different forms to entice humanity to be one with it until the monster went “fuck it I’ll have to go down there myself.”

“Welcome great soul! Master of planes! A welcome guest to a new world!” Hidgens yelled.

Emma’s yanked by the shoulders, it’s hard to look away but once she’s forced to she’s everything doesn’t seem so existential. Alone in the cosmos, no longer connected to something that she couldn’t comprehend. Being so small in the grand scheme felt a lot nicer than what she was just feeling.

Paul has her by the shoulders shaking her back onto Earth. It’s weird to say to someone that’s already half-dead and has glowing eyes generally, but his eyes were brighter than ever, a light blue that stood out against the purple sky behind him. He’s mouthing something to her, maybe even saying a complete sentence but the only thing she catches is _focus_.

Focus. Blinking hard a few times, she looks back down to the gun in her hand. Would the portal close if they cut off it’s energy? Or is it too late?

She looks through her peripherals, trying to glimpse at Hidgens and not the eye further in front of him. His white coat stretches open as he waves his hands in the air. Quickly aiming, she shoots at him again. The man flinched, but it doesn’t take him down. Hidgens’ turned back towards the two, a new delusional look in his eye before he start at them again. Emma pulled the trigger in succession, one even seeming to hit him in the stomach but it doesn’t stop him. The researcher’s grabbing at the gun, almost toppling right over her. Might as well pull the trigger again, there’s another jolt but he’s too in her face to figure out what’s happening.

They continue to wrestle. The trigger gets pulled again as her arms are wrenched overhead. She’s heaving, barely able to catch oxygen from the thick air. Sweat stings in her eyes. Hidgens looked unphased. Emma pulls hard towards her chest but the gun slips out of her grasp, clattering to the concrete a few feet away. 

Hidgens’ rights himself and goes to pull something out of his pocket before Paul is on top of him with the axe, pressing the handle hard against his shoulders. Coupled with the surprise, Paul had the upper hand, using all his weight to keep him pinned down. He turned to look at Emma, starting to shout something that she probably wouldn’t be able to hear but he’s interrupted as Hidgens’ hands shoot up into his face. Grabbing, clawing at whatever his fingers can purchase. No honor as he tries to stick his index into Paul’s eyes, tries to rip out his teeth. One hand flew too hide, knocking his knuckles against the headphones. For a second, Paul flinched, grimacing for the moment unfiltered sound made it to his eardrums before nudging them more securely with his shoulder. The hand went high again, this time grabbing where the band and earpiece connect and ripped it off Paul’s head, throwing it to the side.

All at once, Paul dropped the axe onto Hidgen’s neck and clapped his hands over his ears. His mouth is open in a scream but it can’t compete. Fingers thread though the hair on the side of his head pulling hard enough to tear them from his scalp. He’s straining to open his eyes, revealing fluorescents shooting out from his eyes, beaming down towards the man he was still straddling. Shaking his head vigorously, Paul with himself before his looked up, eyes wide, terrified and streaming with tears, lands up towards the growing portal.

Emma doesn’t dare look, but can tell from the look on Paul’s face that he’s fighting with completely dread and agony that he’s feeling. From the corner of her eye she can see the void moving into view. The eye isn’t visible but there are tendrils that are wiggling across the voids edge, flicking and lashing in the air, as they desperately reach for whatever the creature desired. Even the sight of those. The undulating limbs could be part of the science bringing the monster here, or it could be the creature itself, it’s fingers clawing its way into the galaxy, but Emma couldn’t tell. It’s all too much again. The unintelligible whispering is back her thoughts are clouded. Neurons trying to shut off so it won’t remember what’s happening before her.

Paul’s face was beat red. Underneath the haunting despair encompassing his face there’s flashes of anger, rage that bites out from some of the words that are forming in his mouth. Can he understand the incoherence that she heard before? Paul hunched forward, trying desperately to escape the gaze of god before him, fearing his own existence in the face of existential reality. The tears that flowed from his eyes drip down onto Hidgens, who’s struggling to shove the other man off him. He clamped his mouth shut, biting down into his lip, dribbling blood when failed to hold in his screams.

The blood is what snapped Emma back into her body, feeling every sore, stinging muscle that reminded her that she had to move. Had to help Paul. Fight the god. Destroy whatever was letting this happen. She never watched where the gun fell but the axe is still close by, dumped by Hidgens so he could kneel in front of the monster. Her legs and lungs were on fire as she got to her feet, a jog turning into a run as she scooped up the axe into her numb hands and started running towards the radio tower. The only point of direction, somewhere to the left in the haze was all the machinery Hidgens had running to power whatever was going on. There’s no way she could destroy the radio tower itself, she could barely look at it. The soundboards were the next best idea.

Running was a lot harder with a clouded mind as the was growing to inescapable boundaries. There’s no way she could not see something, a tendril, strangle lights streaming out of the abyss, but she fought against the need to look. To see the terrible wonder that was happening before her. Each step trudged a bit closer, she could barely feel the weight of the axe anymore. The fog dissipated and bundles of cords and box devices appear a few dozen feet in front of her. Emma grits her teeth and pressed on fighting against the burn in her chest that wanted her to stop.

The axe rose above her head, she was so close.

Hidgens appeared next to her, grabbing the handle near the metal head and slows the swing. The handle jerked in Emma’s hands, jamming her wrists in the sudden stop. Lights swirl in his eyes in an unearthly way. The veins in his spindly hands throbbed and burst around the knuckles, leaking a sickly grey, as they struggle against each other. He spins her around, pushing her against the equipment and jabbing the butt of the handle into her chest. The hit startled the air out of her lungs and for a second she loosens her grip. The researcher took the chance, forcing his side down and moving into her space. The wood comes up, almost bashing Emma against the chin but the sharp edge of the head pressed against her skin, right above her right knee. They’re face to face, she can feel his breath on her face; a foul, rancid stench as he yelled into her face.

“Why can’t you accept reality? This has been in the works for eons!”

She’s pinned in place. No amount of struggling seemed to unbalance Hidgens away from her. The edge of the axe continued to dig into her leg pulling her senses away from the burning in her lungs as she fights to catch a full breath. He looked to his right, beaming towards the void. Bloodshot eyes open wide, the vessels pulsing, growing out and extending onto the eyelids, veins splitting across his cheeks. When he turned back towards Emma she no longer can see the man she met all those months ago. A ghastly sight he can’t look away from. No longer was the man a human being but a animated cadaver.

“Just look at them! Look at this superior being!”

The axe is suddenly ripped from her grasp, burning her palms, but the pain is nothing compared to the sharp sting as the axe slices down her thigh. Emma’s mind whites out, the pain way stronger than the glass shards spraying across her face. A intense, piercing pain forced her leg to buckle, almost collapsing into Hidgens in front of her. He takes the opportunity to roughly grab her at the shoulders, turning Emma around towards the void. She squeezed her eyes shut, craning her head as far as possible. An arm barred across her chest and Hidgens grabbed at her face, forcing her head forward and clawing her eyes open.

Once the creature is back in her sight, nothing could stop her gaze. The tendrils have grown, large, dark and writhing in the air. So many that they could be it’s own limb, reaching out way past the roof’s edge. Another flood light eye had joined the other, behind them dimmer orbs twitch frantically around as the eyes focus towards the pair. The sight burns into her mind, pressure building in her skull and guttural wails echoing inside Emma’s head. Whatever thoughts she had evaporate, overcrowded by the awe and horror that is the monster before her. Images flash before her eyes like stop motion, dark sights of body parts, tentacles, dripping flesh, matted fur, and oozing sores that have yet to be revealed. The sight of the monster clawing it’s way onto the roof seemed infinite, no more Hatchetfield, no more Emma, just the birth of a god into humanity.

“A savior being saved from where it came. Here to save us!” Hidgens voice floats somewhere in the back of Emma’s mind but it doesn’t comprehend. Something had to burst, the monster was trying to push it’s way out of her skull. Forcing the bones, cracking her head open. The eyes get closer to the void rattling the only coherent word within her mind.

CONSUME

Someone’s laughing, cackling in joy. Emma just wanted to disappear, become the atoms, the meaningless matter that humans really were. Her body’s floating, her wish is coming true. To join nothing. Give in to the creature, give them what they want. 

Emma’s began to free fall, weightless in the air.

They can have the world. Keep the matter. Take away the terror, the pain, the regrets and frustration. Leave the plane that wants to extinguish it’s being. It is welcome here.

Then there was the crash. She’s was no longer falling. Her body impacted solid ground, her head smacking and bouncing off the surface. The visions blur, no more eyes boring into her bones, no more grotesque images. Just a blossoming headache that alerts her back to her body, to the single mind within it, to her mind and consciousness.

Forcing herself onto hands and knees she squints, peering around confused to whatever just happened.

Blood is splattered on the concrete next to her. It trailed away and led to Hidgens, who’s clutching at his chest, pale hands soaked in blood. Standing above him on shaking legs was Paul. Tears were still streaming down his face, mixing with the blood around his mouth. He fell hard down to his knees, shoulders heaving with each breath. Next to him the discarded axe, the silver head dirtied with blood.

Emma wanted to hug Paul. To hold him close and feel the humanity within him but she knew there wasn’t time. Moving her leg stung, she could feel the fabric of her pants clinging to her skin as she got back onto her feet and grabbed the axe. But it couldn’t deter her from her task, the pain, the willpower just a reminder of the human she was, the life she had.

In one swift motion the axe is raised above her head and she slammed her foot down, planting it to swing with all of her strength the bloodied axe down onto the machine.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How’s it going? This one was a struggle but I enjoy how it came out. It does jump past and present tense every now and then, but we’re dealing with a god so who can blame me? Lol
> 
> Hope y’all enjoy :)


	26. Chapter 26

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Too concentrated on the destruction before her she only then realized that the thunderous growling that they’ve been chasing all this time was silenced. All that’s left besides the ringing in her ears was a terrible wailing. The ungodly sound that she heard when looking at the monster was now emitting full blast. Screeching in an otherworldly tongue with more voices than what appeared.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to the beginning of the end! 
> 
> Warning:  
> Descriptions of blood/gore/injury

Instantly, sparks began to fly as the axe sliced through the machinery. Dials and switches popped off the panels, wires frayed with each downward swing. Cords severed with ease as she moved down the line of equipment before swinging and letting go at the generator’s gas tank. Too close to the split wires sparks easily fly towards the leaking liquid, igniting a small fire that grows exponentially as Emma stumbled back, tripping and falling back onto the ground.

Too concentrated on the destruction before her she only then realized that the thunderous growling that they’ve been chasing all this time was silenced. All that’s left besides the ringing in her ears was a terrible wailing. The ungodly sound that she heard when looking at the monster was now emitting full blast. Screeching in an otherworldly tongue with more voices than what appeared.

Emma dared to take another look. Wincing, she turned back towards the portal and was happy to lose her sanity to the image of the creature.

The void was no longer increasing in size, stuck around the tendrils that were trying to force their way through. The eyes gleaming on the other side twitched and searched in confusion now that it’s progression through the portal stopped. They writhe, searching for purchase but can’t find anything.

“What have you done, Emma!” Hidgens voice wasn’t coming from inside her anymore but was muted from damage done to her hearing. He sounded so different now, no longer level, but a rasping, pained cry.

The researcher was struggling under Paul who seemed just as dazed as the man he had pinned to the ground. Even though he was defeated, Hidgens still battled, reaching out towards the struggling god. Paul was having none of it, straddling the man’s chest and pressing hard onto his gaping wound on his chest.

“We have to start again!”

“It’s over, Hidgens!” Emma yelled out in exasperation, her voice was raw, almost unrecognizable to her own ears.

“It can’t be over! So much work has been put in. Everything would have been fixed, they would have saved us from ourselves!”

She wondered if arguing with an incoherent cultist would be worth it. Deciding against, she instead focused back up to the monster who’s wailing were becoming more frenzied as time went on.

Then the air began to change. The thick ozone turned thin and airy, the purple haze morphed into blue then green before stopping in an intense yellow. The voids edges wavered in shape, changing from hard defined boundaries to blurred lines that melded into the tendrils that escaped it and began to shrink. That exact same moment the monster shrieked in what sounded like terror. The outer tendrils began to disintegrate, much like Gerald did in front of them prior. They squirmed as they peeled and decayed as the creature tried to recoil the rest of itself into what remained of the portal. The screaming voices began to wane, voices winking out of existence one by one along with the numerous glowing eyes behind the larger set that furiously circled the shrinking space. 

“No, it’s can’t go back!” Hidgens bucked, destabilizing Paul who fell off, releasing the pressure from puncture. Blood gushed as Hidgens forced himself onto his feet, a hand barely grazing the wound before he bolted towards the radio tower. Paul stumbled, trying to get to his feet but Hidgens was already climbing up the metal frame. The chase left him, falling back down as he watched the researcher get higher and higher.

“Savior! I won’t let him die!”

The void was decreasing fast, the tendrils detached as they were cut from it’s source until there was only space for the two spotlight eyes bearing down on the humans below. until there was a singular, guttural voice calling out into the sky.

“If they aren’t welcomed here.” Hidgens continued his climb. His hands gleamed black as his palms sliced against the rusted metal. “Then they won’t go back alone!”

As the void shrunk to it’s original size, the eye the only visible part of the creature, Hidgens’ already decrepit body reached out to the pinnacle. The skin on his arms became charred from the electric currents, smoke wafting from his clothes. His bleeding hands reached out, grasping at the fringe of a different plane as he yelled in sync with the monster. The eye began to fade away and Hidgens stretched out further in panic.

In it’s last desperate moment, a single coil shot out of the remaining portal and wrapped itself around Hidgens’ chest. He cried out, maybe from the blood being pushed out of his chest wound or maybe from the lack of gravity as the tendril picked him up from the tower. For a second, the human and monster seemed to contemplate each other, holding each other on the top of the Earth before it jutted itself back into the portal, taking Hidgens with it.

The wind picked up speed as the portal imploded on itself and changed direction, gusting out violently as it winked off this plane. The sky flashed and faded from the sickly yellow to the pale blue sky they’ve always known.

The silence of the world was deafening.

Behind her, a small explosion roared, the fire growing and singeing the back of her neck. She crawled away, almost falling flat on her face as she put pressure on her right knee. The axe wound, that’s right. It didn’t look too deep but the skin still peeled away from the rest of her leg from the tension put on bending her knee. 

In the muffled quiet of the island, finally able to take a moment and assess everything that’s occurred, Emma let out a shaky breath that almost sounded like a laugh. Maybe it was because as she struggled to her feet baring all her weight to one side she realized she was smiling. It wasn’t a happy smile, dear god, not that, it was one of relief, a reward for surviving all this way. And she wasn’t going to give it up now.

She watched Paul stagger back from the base of the radio tower. Though blood was still slick across his chin, scratches against his cheeks and neck, he held his shoulders high. He touched the side of his head, fingers tracing his ears and his mouth opened in surprise. There were gears turning in his head, thoughts somewhere else as his eyes traveled across he wreckage around him before settling down on Emma and he was present once again. He looked at her like it was the first time they truly talked, a look of pain and apprehension, but also of relief and recognition. That with everything before, they were still alive. A look of comfort that they made it.

Paul ran her way and Emma tried to do the same only to fall forward. He was barely close enough to catch her and tumbled down with her to a gentle landing, both sitting near the rooftop hatch. She muttered a thanks but her throat was so worn it couldn’t escape her mouth, her mouth still opened, she didn’t try to speak again, instead giving him a smile. Paul winced as he tried to return the favor, then took of his tie and began wrapping it on the cut above her knee. The new contact burned but Emma fought through it, after all it was the smallest battle she’s had today. As he cinched the knot closed, she reached out quickly to grab his hand before he could take it back.

Truthfully, Emma could barely feel his fingers amongst the static running through their veins, but having his hand in hers gave enough satisfaction. His eyes went wide after the action, only settling from the surprise after she squeezed his hand. Without a wince, he smiled looking warmly at her, almost trying to show her that the electric blue had faded, no more unearthly radiance, but still a strikingly bold blue that looked as human as he did.

They stared at each other, both battered and exhausted, and shared the silence between them. There was so much to say, yet none could describe the emotions flooding through them. Instead, Emma and Paul sat at the wreckage of the birth of a god, and laughed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A breather coming down from the climax.   
> I think there’s only one chapter left y’all.   
> Hope you’ve been enjoying the ride!


	27. Chapter 27

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time had lost meaning. The last time Emma could see the sky, the sun was setting, almost drowning in Lake Superior’s waters before the fog rolled across the island and enveloped them. Now, with the only smoke around white steam wafting off the top of the radio tower, the sky shown clear, the sun gazing directly down onto the two of them, warming their bodies and taking the edge off the fire in their wounds.

Time had lost meaning. The last time Emma could see the sky, the sun was setting, almost drowning in Lake Superior’s waters before the fog rolled across the island and enveloped them. Now, with the only smoke around white steam wafting off the top of the radio tower, the sky shown clear, the sun gazing directly down onto the two of them, warming their bodies and taking the edge off the fire in their wounds. It wasn’t until Paul spotted some helicopters coming in over the waters that they thought to get down from the roof. That in itself was a bit of a struggle, managing to climb back down through the hatch without reopening the wound on her leg. Paul’s much taller stature gave it’s own problems as he tried to assist her walking. But they eventually worked it out in his own awkward way, letting her hobble down the fourth floor main hallway, surrounded by dark sound proofing that they carefully waded through to the elevator.

The exhaustion was slowly seeping through, starting in her legs and working its way to her mind, which was still turning vigorously, trying to comprehend everything that had happened up to that point. She leaned heavily into Paul’s side, enjoying the touch of comfort, and let her eyes wander around what once was the research and development floor. Emma never really took time to notice all the foam encasing the walls and floors. Clearly, it had been put up in a rush, overlapping other pieces or missing a foot between each all together. It’s a wonder they didn’t worry earlier that the researcher was going mad.

Her gaze stopped on the doorway to the radio station office, which was covered by another layer of sound proofing. Strange, since every time before the door was always left wide open. The curiosity was overtaking the tiredness in her bones and she pushed off from Paul who flailed to catch her from falling as she hobbled her way towards the door.

“I’m alright. I’ll be right back.”

“W-where are you—“ He started, almost dancing around her with hovering hands that Emma waved away.

“I’m only taking a quick look. It’ll be fine. You may want to just use the stairs. Melissa may have destroyed the elevator.” Paul glanced back at the glowing button that had been lit for at least 2 minutes before turning back towards Emma. “I don’t really want to try my luck at the stairs though. I’ll wait for reinforcements.”

“Maybe we can call them?”

Emma shrugged. “I don’t have my phone, do you?”

He nodded, patting down his jean pockets and pulling out a phone. “Shit.” The screen was shattered, splintering pieces of glass that barely held on, which was something compared to the bottom half which lacked any glass at all.

“Shit.” Emma nodded.

Paul sighed, pocketing the device again and looking back at the elevator. “You sure you’ll be alright?”

She snorted. “What am I? Five?” When that didn’t take the concerned look off his face she settled into a smile. “I’ll be okay. Go before I jump on your back and make you carry me.”

That earned her an eye roll, he started backing up towards the strip of uncovered hall. “maybe put in the earplugs before going back in there.” He nodded towards the room behind her. “Y’know, just in case.”

Emma reached into her pocket and pulled out the earplugs she got from Schaffer. Stuffing them back in hurt more than she expected, her aching ears obviously irritated from all the pressure and obstruction. Paul watched quietly for a moment, realizing he was staring he shot her a thumbs up before heading for the stairwell. Emma laughed and waited until the door closed before limping to push the research lab’s door open.

To her surprise, the soundproofing wasn’t attached to any door, but was somehow hung over the entrance. Being cautious was a good idea, because as soon as she foam covering parted Emma could hear the familiar muffled howls that she’s heard all night.

The room looked trashed, papers, wires, and remnants of food strewn any surface available. Nothing left very complete besides a few connected cords, as everything else was moved up to the roof for the big project. There were some soundboards stacked on top of each other in a corner. On the top center tables were loads of notebooks and loose papers that had been thrown down wildly. Emma flipped to a random page in the closest spiral bound notebook and found Hidgens’ handwriting. They were the experiment documentations, but the one she read weren’t numbered like the one’s Schaffer had copied, instead they looked to be alphabetized, the few she could see labeled with HR, HS, HT.

It read more like a diary entry, a personal log of the experiments Hidgens had with the portal and the monster within. He’d been interacting with it much more than what Emma had originally thought. The obsession he held went much deeper than imagined, conversations spanning notebooks were recorded between him and the monster across all hours of the night. Interactions that played out like interviews or best friends talking on the phone.

Emma sat the notebooks back down, frowning as a chill crept back around her neck. All this time that creature had crept into Hidgens’ mind to get him to open a portal to this dimension. How close it was to succeeding too. She backed away, stumbling over something left on the floor. Behind her sat the front door, sloping back towards the opposite corner of the room. Behind it, a light shined, a glimmering glow that was obscured by the unhinged door. She looked around it, coming face to face with a metal ring, about the size of stovetop, that sat next to the only speaker in the room. The edges let off the same iridescent glow but the center shifted between black and white. Like clouds passing at night or a fog rolling over dark waters. Much too detailed to be a video screen but it resembled the black void that was created for the monster.

Carefully, she peered n closer, arching the light mist cross in and out of the circle’s boundaries. Was this what the monster was running from? That horrid monster coming out of a black void, a monster that was the entire dimension, maybe whatever makes this mist is, or whatever is this mist?

Something caught Emma’s eye. Deep within something green and purple floated into view, a flicker of color, a waving limb, maybe a flash of grey hair and pale flesh? Whatever laid within blended back into the void.

Emma flicked the adjacent speaker’s power off. For good measure she took a piece of the metal ring, some coiling piece of steel and chucked it across the room before finally leaving back to the main hallway.

Soon after the stairway door swung open and Schaffer and Bill came hustling towards her. Emma tilted her head. “Where’s Paul?”

“Waiting for medical. His pupils were two different sizes. Concussion.” Schaffer said, eyeing the blood stain down Emma’s leg. “Looks like both of you had a hell of a time.” She muttered. Emma grunted in response as Schaffer played with the knot around her leg. “Good for you Paul doesn’t know how to tie a real tourniquet.”

Emma nodded along accordingly though she wasn’t paying much attention. She was too focused on Bill who was gently trying to help guide her down the stairs. The last time she saw him was at her and Tim’s home. “Is Tim? And, I, are you alright?”

Bill gave a soft smile. “Yeah, we’re all alright. There was a fog moving in but it only made it to the house a short while before everything cleared. The sky flashed a few times and Grace was yelling but then she pass out. It was weird, I thought maybe we restrained her too tight. But she woke up soon after and thought she was babysitting Tim.”

“Babysitting? So she didn’t remember?”

“Something like that. Her memory was weird. She was asking when Tim’s dad was coming home.” Emma grimaced, that was almost a year ago. Grace hadn’t babysat since she arrived on the island either.

“The General is saying similar things. I haven’t been able to ask Xander but John still thinks we’re in New Jersey. We haven’t had operations in New Jersey in years.” Schaffer added as they made it to the second floor. “If there’s some sort of amnesiac effect that’s happened then who knows what else has happened.”

They move into the military’s main office and there everyone was. Not long ago, they were all shoved into her small kitchen. Now they sat huddled in unused cubicles, half of them covered in blood. Sitting amongst the confidential paperwork that people had died for. They sat Emma down at a cubicle and Emma scanned the room, finding Tim already darting her way.

There was a smile stretched across his face that fell when his eyes hit her blood soaked pants. Tim stopped an arms length away, hands folding into each other at his stomach. Suddenly, Emma was looking back at the young boy she met almost a year ago.

“It’s not as bad as it looks.” She said, trying to give him a playful smirk, but could tell it missed it’s mark. He was having a hard time deciding where to look, besides the wound on her leg, her face was still pocked with tiny scabs, probably red and angry left by the shattered glass. There wasn’t anyway to hide from it. Instead, Emma made the first move, putting her arms outstretched before her and waited patiently for him to feel comfortable. “I’ll be fine, bud. Just need a little sleep.”

Tim gave a stiff nod and waited a beat before leaning in, wrapping Emma into a tight hug. She was shocked, he’d never given much contact before but he squeezed her middle like his life depended on it. She smiled, resting her chin on the top of his head.

“So, everything’s fixed?” He mumbled into her shirt.

She hummed, tapping her chin down into his hair. “I think so.”

“I’m glad you’re okay.”

“I’m glad you’re okay too.”

“I’m glad we changed plans.”

“Really?”

He let go, staring down at his shoes. “Yeah, because, I dunno. There’s a lot more to the world than just us, I guess.”

Emma took his hand in hers. “Whatever’s out there I’m still glad you’re okay. Even though we didn’t meet in the most ideal way.”

Tim leaned back in, resting his head against Emma’s shoulder. “Yeah, me too. I wish we could have hung out with mom and dad together.”

“Me too. Maybe somewhere out there that happened. But I even still, I’m still happy with this.” Sitting across from them sat Paul, Melissa, Bill, and Ted. They looked completely haggard, most of them covered in some sort of blood but they still had their spirits. Bill and Ted were arguing as he fussed over the other’s injured shoulder as Melissa laughed at them. Like another day at work.

Paul caught her staring and stared at her wide eyed for a second looking startled. His blue eyes were wide, showing off the clear blue that had no more glow within. He then softened back up and gave a warm smile. A smile with no judgement or frustration. The same one that he wore when trying to figure out what type of coffee she drank, the same one that convinced her to let him come over for drinks. The same one he gave her before getting to they faced a god.

Maybe it wasn’t the perfect world that she had hoped for, but Emma had no doubt that she was right where she was supposed to be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think that’s it y’all. There could be another chapter, like a world wrap up but I don’t know. For right now I think I’m pretty happy with that. Let me know what you think!  
> Hope y’all enjoyed :)


End file.
